Caithness Presbytery of the Church of Scotland hit out at the move at its meeting in Thurso West Church on Tuesday night and agreed to write to the area corporate manager Ian Hargrave and all 10 local councillors in a bid to get the decision reconsidered. The rise was described as "unfair, excessive and obnoxious".

The Rev Ronnie Johnstone, the convener of the church and society committee, accused the council of trying to "maximise income from others' grief". While he acknowledged that there are pressures on local authority finance he felt the increase in burial charges was "swingeing".

The Thurso West minister pointed out that under the new system charges for burials and purchasing a lair would each go up from £237 to £356, while the cost of Saturday funerals is to jump from £297 to £446. The cost of interring ashes in a grave will go from £64 to £96 but cremation will rise by only four per cent and go up from £386 to £402.

Mr Johnstone said it was "highly unlikely" the cost of providing the service has gone up by 50 per cent in the past year. He said the increase is unfair because it is not related to people's ability to pay, and added: "This is not an optional service which people can opt to use or not use as they wish.

"As a monopoly provider of this service, the Highland Council is maximising income out of others' grief. That is obnoxious."

The minister pointed out that in contrast the Church of Scotland does not charge for funeral services. He also felt the increase was "clandestine" as it will be included in the undertakers' bills.

"It will be the undertaker who will get the comments and reaction," said Mr Johnstone, who claimed the local authority was increasing its charges in "a desperate attempt to balance its books".

He continued: "While we can all understand the constraints on local authority finance, I feel that to increase charges by a swingeing 50 per cent is excessive."

Mr Johnstone also said some Caithness councillors are part of the ruling administration and cannot claim they had nothing to do with the increase. "They cannot say, 'It was not me'," added the minister.

Presbytery agreed to write to Mr Hargrave and local councillors to ask them to justify the increase and invite them to reconsider the decision.

The Highland Council's director of transport, environmental and community services, Neil Gillies, yesterday defended the rise.

He said: "The council, in reviewing its charges for services, established that the previous charges for burials were significantly below the national average and that the council was subsidising these services.

"The 50 per cent increase brings the charges in Highland into line with the Scottish average and takes into account increases in providing this service and the lack of previous increases in charges. These changes were approved by the full council at a meeting on February 14."

g.calder@nosn.co.uk

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