GRIEVING families are being hit hard by soaring funeral costs, new figures have revealed.

In Burnley, burial costs have spiralled to £2,225 in the last year making it the most expensive town in the North West.

That is in stark contract to Clitheroe where the cost is just £790.

Research by funeral comparison service Funeralbooker found burial and cremation prices had risen by an average of 6.5 per cent across the region in the past year.

As a result families will find themselves forced to shell out £741 on average for a cremation, while the average burial fee will now cost £1,617.

Burnley Council disputed Funeralbooker’s figures and said the fees were used to meet the cost of burials and maintenance.

A council spokesman said: “We’re not clear how these figures have been reached, given that the overall cost of burials depends on a number of factors.

“It’s the policy of this council, and many others, that income from cemetery fees is used to meet the cost of burial and the ongoing maintenance of Burnley Cemetery as a whole.”

Across East Lancashire burial prices have risen in Blackburn from £1,490 to £1,570, in Pendle from £1,390 to £1,584, in Wyre from £1,566 to £1,581 and Rossendale from £1,058 to £1,069. Prices have remained the same in Hyndburn on £1,500.

James Dunn, co-founder of Funeralbooker, said the hikes were a ‘stealth tax’ on families.

He said: “With such significant price differences now appearing across the region, many will be questioning whether these fees genuinely reflect the service they are getting or are simply down to opportunistic greed.

“Cremation and burial fees are almost entirely unavoidable, but families can protect themselves by planning ahead.

“If meeting the cost of a funeral would be a struggle then it might be worth taking out a pre-paid funeral plan, which will guarantee to meet your funeral director’s fees and will help disbursements costs.”