Ilminster funeral home asks for blankets for 'cold' church

Kate Livingstone and funeral director Leah Wakely have begun collecting knitted blankets for the church

A funeral company in Somerset has appealed for knitted blankets to be used during services at a church.

A J Wakely and Sons in Ilminster put out a call to knitters to keep people warm at The Minster.

Kate Livingstone, who works at the funeral home, said: "It's been very cold."

The heating system at the church has had problems for the past couple of years but was being sorted, the firm said.

"I thought after a couple of really cold funerals we did at the end of last year it would be a nice idea to have knitted blankets in baskets at the end of the pews," Ms Livingstone said.

"Ilminster is a lovely community and we're very much a part of that community.

"They don't need to be huge blankets, they're just for people to pop round their shoulders or over their knees."

The funeral home asked for knitted and crocheted blankets to help keep the congregation warm

She added she would be storing the blankets at the funeral home during the summer.

"We're at the end of winter hopefully," she said.