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The manager at Hawkinge Crematorium has admitted that very large coffins over 30 inches wide do not fit in their cremation furnaces and the nearest which could handle a larger coffin is at the Garden of England Crematorium in Sittingbourne.

Although some local authorities are making provision to upgrade or widen their furnaces, Dignity Funerals Ltd. of Sutton Coldfield which leases Hawkinge Crematorium from Shepway District Council have said they have no plans accomodate larger coffins.

Local manager of Dignity, Pat Harris told the Gazette: "There are no plans to install larger crematoria furnaces at Hawkinge.

"The company spent £½ million on improvements when they bought the lease in 2001."

Hawkinge Crematorium was opened 51 years ago in 1956, having formerly been a Chapel serving the cemetery.

Crematoriums throughout the country are struggling to deal with spiralling numbers of stouter clients as the UK's obesity crisis grows, local government leaders are warning today.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents over 400 councils in England and Wales, is warning that local authorities are finding that many of their crematoria furnaces are too narrow to deal with increasing numbers of over-sized coffins.

To combat the problem, councils are widening their furnaces, but coffins are also having to be transported to other crematoria that can accommodate them.

Coffins generally range from 20 to 26 inches. However, increasingly coffins anywhere up to 40 inches are being ordered to fit larger bodies. Around 430,000 choose to be cremated in Britain each year.

Cllr Hazel Harding from the LGA, says: "As long as the nation keeps on piling on the pounds, pressure will continue to be placed on crematoria. This is just another demonstration of how the UK's obesity problem is putting a real strain on public services.

"The death of a loved one is always a difficult time and having to decamp to another area for the cremation just adds to the ordeal. It is important that grieving relatives get the service they deserve and councils are doing what they can to accommodate larger clients locally.

"By upgrading their crematoria and widening furnaces, councils are changing the services people use for the better to make sure that relatives are not put out. As waistlines keep on expanding we can expect more and more councils to provide larger furnaces."