The cost of dying is increasing, with fees going up by as much as 25 per cent in one part of the West Midlands.

A reserved plot for one or more coffins in Dudley will soon cost £1,248, an increase of around 25 per cent on the current charge of £999, or around eight times the rate of inflation.

And the fee for burials is increasing depending on the depth of the grave. Charges for an adult grave are rising by more than 15 per cent from £525 to £605 next year.

Cremation fees for adults in the borough are also set to rise from £503 to £540 – an increase of just over seven per cent. Dudley Council bosses say the changes will bring the borough more in line with neighbouring authorities.

A 54 per cent increase in the cost of burial plots was introduced in Wolverhampton in April to help meet a £27 million savings target which the council had to hit between 2009 and 2011.

City residents who want to reserve a plot on a 75-year lease now have to hand over £1,400 rather than £932.

In Walsall the cost of the exclusive right of burial for a full grave will increase on January 1 by 4.4 per cent, or £66, to £1,537, while in Sandwell an exclusive right for two burials on a plot has just risen 2.5 per cent from £1,524 to £1,562.

Councillor David Stanley, Dudley Council’s environment and culture chief said: “The proposed increase in burial charges simply brings Dudley’s charges closer to fees at other local authorities and Dudley’s charges remain the lowest in the Black Country.”

Other increases proposed by Dudley Council include the cost of a burial plaque which is rising from £1,212 plus a £50.50 administration charge to £1,250 plus a £53 administration charge.

Although burial fees are VAT exempt the tax applies to other charges.

Cannock Chase Council last increased its burial charges in April. There is a charge of £574 to buy a grave and £337 to excavate a public grave.

In Stafford the exclusive right to burial on a plot has risen from £718 to £754.

Burial fees for a one coffin depth grave have gone up from £611 to £642.

Cremation fees have risen from £455 to £477.

By Helen Cartwright