Bereaved families are being placed under increasing strain due to the rising cost of council cremation fees in Scotland, it was claimed last night.
Several leading charities have warned the growing financial pressures of paying for a cremation service could turn grief into mental illness.
The latest figures show a service for a person aged 16 and over costs nearly £640 in Inverness – the third most expensive city council in the country, after Perth at £730 and Edinburgh’s Mortonhall Crematorium at £663.
In Aberdeen, the cost comes in at £580, which ranks as one of the lowest in the country.
Glasgow is the cheapest, coming it at just over £560.
Charity chiefs have raised concerns the costs could have a detrimental effect on the psychological wellbeing of people going through the grieving process.
Stewart Wilson, chief executive officer of Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland, said: “For most people, grief is not an illness but a natural, albeit a painful, process through which they will emerge in time.
“However, the impact of other stresses can prevent that process, and lead to a complicated grieving pattern which does require costly intervention and can precipitate major mental health issues.
“Clearly debt, and the stigma attached to not having been able to pay for a loved one’s funeral, is one such major stress.”
Fraser Sutherland, of Citizens Advice Scotland, says the charity has been bombarded with complaints about the bills.
He said: “Last year we reported an increase of 27% in the numbers of Scots seeking advice about the issue.
“People already struggling to get by are finding themselves hit by a huge bill at a time when they are grieving and perhaps in shock, if the bereavement has been sudden. The fact there is a postcode lottery makes things even worse.
“Advisers will help bereaved families as much as we can, but we are also campaigning to persuade governments, local authorities and funeral directors to cut the costs.”
However, local authorities have defended their costing of the services.
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “The charges are reviewed annually and calculated in line with the budgeting process.”
A spokeswoman for Edinburgh Council said: “The cost of cremations carried out by the council is in line with that charged by commercial crematoria in the city.
“The income is reinvested to improve bereavement facilities, and in the vital maintenance of Edinburgh’s 42 cemeteries, a number of which are hundreds of years old.”
The Highland Council was unavailable for comment last night.