Sheffield funerals backlog: City Road Crematorium reopening update issued as bereaved families face delays
Bosses have stepped up the number of funerals being carried out at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium in a bid to deal with a city-wide backlog.
And they now have an expected timescale for the re-opening of the currently-closed City Road Crematorium.
The temporary closure of City Road Crematorium for refurbishment work, combined with a higher than normal death rate, had left bereaved families waiting up to an extra two weeks compared to normal this winter.
When will City Road Crematorium re-open?
Officials are now saying they expect it to re-open in August.
Bosses at Sheffield Council have stepped up the number of funerals at Hutcliffe Wood to tackle the problem.
Councillor Alison Teal, Sheffield Council’s executive member for sustainable neighbourhoods, wellbeing, parks and leisure, said: “City Road Crematorium remains closed for cremator replacement and is scheduled to reopen fully in August.
“While work continues, from the beginning of March we introduced more services at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. There has been a steady uptake in the new times and we continue to offer lunchtime and Saturday morning services as we have done since the temporary closure of City Road.
“As a result, lead times for funerals have come down slightly and we continue to keep a close eye on things.”
City Road Crematorium is currently closed for cremator replacement. Due to the age of the building at City Road Crematorium, other structural work has been required at the same time as replacing the cremators, which has meant it has been closed longer than originally expected.