Published: Thursday, 20th August, 2009 9:30am

Grave concerns

by Kirsty Gibbins

Comments (0) | Print | Email

THE relatives of a recently deceased pensioner have spoken of their anger at being forced to have her cremated after a blunder ruined her wish to be buried with her parents.

Margaret Miller, of Dundas Road, North Berwick, passed away last Monday, aged 88, having paid her local Co-operative Funeralcare branch two-and-half years ago to be buried in the same grave plot as her parents, Andrew and Margaret Miller, in council-owned North Berwick Cemetery.

However, following her death, her relatives were told by Co-op staff that East Lothian Council had ruled there was no space in the lair for a third burial and Margaret was allocated a new plot in the recently opened extension of the cemetery.

But her family were determined that the pensioner's final resting place would not be in the new section of the cemetery, branded "inappropriate" by Margaret's nephew Kenneth Miller, and took the last-minute decision last Thursday not to go ahead with her burial - scheduled to take place the next day.

Instead, they opted for a cremation, so that her remains could be interred at her parents' grave as she had wished.

Kenneth told the Courier: "We weren't going to go ahead, we simply couldn't as it wasn't suitable.

"The only thing separating the alternative plot from a neighbouring skip site is a mesh fence and some newly planted hedges, and when we visited the lair there was a lot of noise coming from the skip site.

"They might as well have suggested dumping her in a skip."

Margaret's ashes will now be interred at her parents' grave, but the mix-up has angered the Millers, who are now facing their fourth funeral service in two weeks.

"My brother Eric passed away on August 3 and this is the last thing my family should have had to deal with; myself and my father, Bob Miller (Margaret's brother who also lives in North Berwick) are very angry that my aunt has not been laid to rest in the way she clearly wanted," said Kenneth, who lives in Dunfermline.

"The staff at the North Berwick Co-operative branch were very helpful and understanding of our situation but the bottom line is that there are questions that need to be answered here," said Kenneth.

"Why did no one at the Co-operative Funeralcare bother to check if the lair my aunt wanted was suitable at the time she actually booked and paid for it?"

A spokesperson for The Co-operative Funeralcare, said: "We always act on the instructions of the client purchasing the funeral plan and we trust that they are fully aware of the facts surrounding the grave space previously purchased.

"This matter has now been resolved to the satisfaction of the family."

Kenneth retorted: "How can anyone expect an 85-year-old woman to know whether there was space in the lair or not - that's surely what these experts at the funeralcare service are there for?"

"With the service held last Friday, the cremation and the interring of my aunt's ashes, we will effectively have had to go through four funeral services in the space of two weeks."

"Though at least now we all know that my aunt will be laid to rest where she wanted to be in the first place."

A council spokeswoman explained that the local authority's records regarding the Millers' lair show that it was first purchased in 1936 and it was only intended for two interments.

She said: "Unless there is space in a family lair or a lair previously bought, any burials at North Berwick will be carried out in the new extension to the cemetery.

"Lairs are allocated sequentially in all of our cemeteries and surrounding businesses have no bearing on where plots are assigned.

"We try to work with families during a difficult time to minimise their distress and are disappointed to hear of any concerns that the setting may not be appropriate.

"The cemetery extension opened earlier in August and a number of burials have since been carried out there with a general level of satisfaction from the bereaved families regarding the standard and location of the new facilities.

"As with all of the council's green spaces, we will be carrying out an ongoing programme of maintenance to ensure the newly landscaped areas mature quickly, which will change the appearance of the area."