GRIEVING families in Inverclyde face a five per cent hike in the cost to cremate their loved ones.

The council is replacing the equipment at Greenock Crematorium over the next financial year and a feasibility study has found that the work will cost around £1.6m.

Officials say that ‘a significant amount of building work will be necessary’.

They also plan to re-design and extend the car park to create more room, with consideration being given to using the grassed area to the left of the exit road or constructing an additional car park at a slightly lower level, to the north east of the existing one. 

They will now ask councillors to agree to hike cremation charges — once the work is completed — in order to help finance the cost of the project and ‘reflect the service improvements arising from this significant investment’.

Members of the environment and regeneration committee will discuss the recommendation at a meeting to be held in the Municipal Buildings later this month.

Around 1,000 cremations are carried out on average each year in Greenock.