A CHURCH minister has called for taxes to be raised to help pay for increasing funeral costs.

Rev Bryan Kerr, of Greyfriars Church, Lanark, called on the Scottish Government and local authorities to help bereaved families who struggle to pay for burials. He also called for a cap on costs, which he said had risen 80 per cent in 10 years.

Mr Kerr said in his area a burial costs £1183. "This is an eye-wateringly high rise of 345 per cent in five years," he said. "Despite all the assurances of local authorities that they have extra costs in maintaining the ground and cutting the grass, I worry that they are making a profit out of the dying."

He urged the Scottish Government to "address the issues surrounding funeral poverty in their forthcoming review of legislation relating to burials and cremations".