Pall bearers

I AM writing in response to the recent media interest regarding the increase in the weight of the general public and how this affects health and safety issues concerning the carrying of coffins by funeral directors.

Having read numerous articles in the national press and listened to the same reports broadcast on national radio, I would like to challenge the validity of this story.

My experience at our local branches is that, while people are certainly getting heavier, this is nowhere near the extent portrayed in these scare stories.

I would like to allay the fears of the public who may be misled into believing we are no longer able to use pall bearers to carry coffins.

For the vast majority of funerals we carry out at T L Cobbold in St Neots we still carry the coffin on the shoulders of four pall bearers. While we are using six pall bearers more often than in the past, using wheeled biers are still a rarity.

The sensational reports printed in the national media are in stark contrast to the truth. Traditional funerals carried out by local funeral directors will certainly continue to include carrying the deceased on the shoulders of the pall bearers.

ANDREW GRAHAM, T L Cobbold, Funeral directors, St Neots