AN independent funeral director has claimed it is 'more expensive to die than to live', blaming the rising cost of funerals on the greed of big companies.
Brian Howard, of B M and C Howard Funeral Services on Wakefield Road, Barnsley, said everyone has a right to a dignified funeral and has signed to Fair Funerals Pledge to try and tackle funeral poverty.
Mr Howard said larger companies were cashing in on people's grief by charging as much as £4,000 - he charges around £2,400 for a standard service.
He said many people cannot afford high funeral costs and the NHS was having to foot the bill for what was previously known as a 'pauper's funeral'.
** The full story appears in the Barnsley Chronicle dated September 4. *
