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A crematorium has handed out 20 fines worth £4,000 on family funerals for running over time.

Six of the funerals were fined after over-running by just two minutes while another was fined £200 after being delayed by just 14 seconds.

The fines have been slapped on funeral directors and grieving families in Grimsby by North East Lincolnshire Council over the last 21 months.

Timings were monitored at Grimsby crematorium by using CCTV footage of the services.

According to their website, the council charge £620 for use of the chapel and cremation for 40 minutes “including entering and exiting”.

Direct cremation, with no attendance, costs £442.

Figures for the council fines were released after a freedom of information request from Grimsby Live and begin in June 2017 when the charge for over-running was £162. A year later it was increased to £200.

Of those funerals fined, two were for funerals that overran by more than ten minutes and four for between five and 10 minutes.

One delay was caused because one of the mourners was infirm and used walking sticks as she left the chapel after paying her respects.

(Image: Grimsby Telegraph / MEN Media)

Hayley Blakey, who was fined £200 for over-running the funeral, has accused crematorium bosses of having 'no humanity or sympathy'.

The 46-year-old arranged for the funeral of her mother Diana Baghurst, 67, who died following complications from cancer, to take place on March 6 this year.

She could not believe what she was reading after receiving a letter just five days later saying she was fined for going over by ten minutes through no fault of her own.

Councillor Keith Brookes has been fighting the 'appalling' fines handed out by his district council.

"I want to make sure we no longer have funerals that penalise families. It seems there is no humanity or sympathy."

Funeral directors and families have been contacting the councillor to complain about the fines with one fined after being one minute late.

He said: "It looks as if someone is holding a stop watch, clicking as soon as someone walks in the chapel and checks the last one to leave.

“It is hitting people at their most vulnerable of their lives. Some funeral directors may absorb the fine but not all of them will.

“In this case the family were very upset, they were the ones who received the bill. The the funeral director I believe has now taken it on for them.”

A spokesman for North East Lincolnshire Council said: "A charge is imposed on the funeral director if a service at the Crematorium over-runs.

"Funeral directors manage the proceedings and it is at their discretion whether or not to pass this charge to their client.

“The charge is currently £200 – the same as it costs to book additional time in the chapel. We work with funeral directors to help them plan ahead and reserve extra chapel time if it is needed."

The statement in the response to the Freedom of Information request added: "It is distressing for mourners to be kept waiting because an earlier service has taken longer than its scheduled slot.

“We introduced charges for over-running services in November 2014 and used to allow a five minute buffer. This buffer was used too often and by the end of the day services could be up to one hour behind schedule.

“It was not acceptable for bereaved families to be kept waiting and the buffer was removed in June 2018."

A spokeswoman for the National Association of Funeral Directors said: "If a service runs significantly over its time, or it is likely to do so, then an additional fee may be appropriate...

“However, it seems overly harsh to penalise a family for overrunning by 14 seconds because an elderly relative on crutches took time to leave the chapel."