The costs of cremation and burial in Stafford and Stone will increase next year but will remain lower than in surrounding areas.

Cremation currently costs £367 and this is set to increase to £395 next year but this compares with £467 for the same service in Walsall and £420 in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Buying a plot in a graveyard in Stafford and Stone is currently £450 less than the same space in Stoke-on-Trent.

It is set to increase to £670 next year but this will still be lower than Walsall, Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent where a final resting place would cost £920.

Changes in burial and cremation fees will come into effect in January at the Tixall Road site. The increases are expected to be approved by Stafford Borough Council’s cabinet today. [1]

Stafford is currently ranked the seventh best provider of burial and cremation service in England and Wales and has previously been voted Best Crematoria in the West Midlands.

Councillor Stan Highfield, cabinet member for environment and health, said: “The crematorium still provides excellent value for money.

“As a facility offering both cremation and burial services the Tixall Road site is up there with the best in the country.

“With these increase we are moving the costs nearer to the levels of other authorities nearby, but they will still be lower than most.

“We have spent a lot of money on the site in recent years, and rightly so.”