Don't die in January, it's too expensive: The callous council which charges more for funerals at times of 'peak demand'

One council, however, appears to have adopted a rather more mercenary approach to death.

Its leaders plan to cash in on grieving families by increasing the cost of funerals in the month when the death rate is highest.

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A report for Southwark Council, south London, urged a rise in cremation and burial fees at the start of next January to "maximise the peak demand period".

January usually records the highest average death rate of the year, largely because of the greater number of frail pensioners who succumb to the winter chill.

The proposed 10 per cent rise for cremations and 5 per cent for burials prompted threats of protests outside the town hall by Southwark Pensioners Action Group. One member, Tony Farsky, said: "This is terrible. A lot of pensioners worry about their funerals and putting the price up is surely going to cause alarm. It's outrageous."

Mervyn Cohler, specialist adviser for Help The Aged, described the plan as 'incredible'.

He said: "I can't believe how harsh they are being. It seems very greedy for the local council to try and cash in by working out which month most people die."

Labour councillor Barrie Hargrove said: "Cashing in on people's grief shows the kind of insensitive meanness of an unreformed Scrooge."

However, this is not the first time the authority - run by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats - has targeted high death rates in January.

Senior finance officials tried to force through a similar rise in funeral fees for this year.

But several delays stopped the rises taking effect until last month.

The 10 per cent increase in cremation fees pushed up the cost to families from £360 to £396 while the bill for burials rose from £745 to £783.

On top of this, relatives would also have to pay hundreds of pounds to a private undertaker.

The council's move follows a shortfall of £219,000 in crematoria fees for the last financial year.

Mr Cohler added: "Old people are very concerned about their funeral arrangements and two price rises in a year is extreme. The fact that the local authority has a monopoly also means they don't have a choice."

Councillor Lisa Rajan, who is in charge of Southwark's funeral department, said: "It's true that more people die in the winter and we wanted to make changes in January this year as well.

"The language in the report is written in a council way and does not in any way mean to be insensitive when talking about family bereavements."