Sheffield council report made grave error with 25ft coffin sizes

A misprint in a bereavement document mentioned coffins with a width of up to 25ft

Council officials have been left red-faced after a misprint in a report mentioned coffin sizes with a width of almost 25ft (7.6m).

The grave error was flagged in a Sheffield City Council meeting, which heard an extra nought had been added to the measurement of coffin widths.

The bereavement report detailed a new charge for coffins up to 760mm wide - but mistakenly referred to 7,600mm.

A councillor said it was "the most unusual correction" he had dealt with.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ellie Fraser, council head of bereavement and coronial services, told the meeting on Wednesday that "fortunately" the blunder was not repeated in council guidelines on the fees.

The authority's communities, parks and leisure policy committee was told the report on amendments to bereavement fees was agreed in March.

Most fees were increased by 4% on 1 April.

A burial now costs £2,430 and the cost of cremation is £1,013.

The direct to cremation fee dropped from £650 to £500 to be more in line with what is charged elsewhere and other specialist service fees were also adjusted, LDRS said.