Four webcams and a funeral: Far-flung relatives pay £75 to see farewell service on the net

Mourners unable to attend their loved ones' funerals now have a chance to see the event live on the internet.

The pioneering scheme has been launched because family members are often spread across the globe.

A website allows relatives and friends the opportunity to pay their last respects without travelling to the ceremony.

Services are already being streamed on to the web from the first eight participating crematoriums in the UK, with remote mourners paying £75.

Users are given a password that allows them to see the service live online with just a 20-second delay – or up to seven days after the event.

The funerals are filmed by a discreet camera at the back of the chapel. The company behind the scheme – Wesley Music, based in Kettering, Northamptonshire – is also offering DVDs of the funerals for £50, or a sound recording for £25.

Director Alan Jeffrey says online funerals are an extra option for mourners rather than a money-spinning venture and similar schemes are already on offer in Australia and Brazil.

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He added: "Families are split geographically more than ever and far-flung members are feeling excluded from such an important gathering. The idea originated out of helping an elderly relative in Australia who could not make it back here for a family funeral.

"As word gets around and the technology improves, I am sure it will become popular in still more countries because families are often based all over the planet these days."

Wesley Music, which also provides crematoriums with the technology to play music without using CDs or tapes, has started screening services online from chapels around the country.

Southampton crematorium manager Trevor Mathieson said: "Sometimes not everyone can make it to a funeral because they live too far away or are too ill. This can let them be part of the service.

"People like to make it more personal and it is now often more about the person than about religion. For instance, there is normally a song played that means a lot to the family, whereas ten years ago organ music was more traditional."

Mr Mathieson said he thought it was unlikely mourners would stop attending ceremonies just because they had the option to watch them online.

The crematoriums offering the service are Southampton, Liverpool, Cambridge, Nottingham, Peterborough, Worthing, Redditch and Wokingham.