Funeral directors face £200 fine for uncollected bodies

Bristol City Council says there are concerns the mortuary is running out of space

Funeral directors will be fined up to £200 a day if they leave deceased people in a mortuary for too long.

Funeral directors will be hit with the penalty only if they fail to pick up bodies promptly from the public mortuary in Flax Bourton, near Bristol.

Bristol City Council voted through the proposal amid concerns the mortuary is running out of space.

One funeral director said the issue is caused by larger companies "ruining it for everyone".

The byelaw would charge funeral directors a fine after three days following the end of a coroner's investigation.

Flax Bourton mortuary investigates unexplained or unnatural deaths in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and Bath and North East Somerset.

A council report says the cost of keeping bodies at the mortuary is borne by taxpayers

A report to Bristol City Council said: "There is increasing pressure on storage capacity at Flax Bourton mortuary.

"This is partly due to some funeral directors not collecting deceased people promptly.

"At the moment, funeral businesses make no payment to help cover the costs of keeping the deceased at Flax Bourton mortuary.

"This means the cost is borne by taxpayers. Some funeral directors … are keeping deceased people at the mortuary for long periods after the coroner has released the bodies for collection."

Funeral directors have said part of the problem is national direct cremation companies using Flax Bourton as "their own private mortuary".

One funeral business said: "Where humanly possible we always collect our deceased within three working days, and we are fortunate that we have the mortuary facilities at our premises.

"It is a shame the larger and direct funeral companies are now ruining it for everyone, by using the facilities as their own private mortuary."

Bristol City Councillors approved the proposal at the full council meeting on 9 January.

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