Council apologise after halting funeral over metal coffin

A woman in Knottingley was left distraught after a council official halted her father's funeral because his coffin was made of metal.

Minutes before Colin Birdsall was due to be buried, his family were told they would either have to change the casket immediately or postpone the funeral.

His daughter, Stella, says the family have been left devastated by the confusion:

The funeral was stopped after the official's interruption and Mr Birdsall had to be buried in a standard wooden casket instead.

Stella says that due to the size difference between the metal and wooden coffins, when she returned to the graveyard days after the funeral much of the land had sunken in around the smaller, wooden casket.

Elizabeth Jennings, the funeral director says she has never seen a written policy on metal coffins and that the council's behaviour was "disgraceful":

ITV Calendar's Emma Wilkinson asked Glynn Humpries from Wakefield Council if the council had a policy on metal coffins.

Wakefield Council have offered to exhume Mr Birdsall and rebury him in the family's original coffin.