York Crematorium is struggling to cope with demand for its services as the death rate soars in the area.

The crematorium at Bishopthorpe is already almost fully booked for the whole of next week.

Now some York families are choosing to use a crematorium 40 miles away at Scarborough, which can handle funeral services more quickly, rather than wait to use the York facility.

The increase in the number of deaths could be linked to the recent flu crisis, which has hit elderly people particularly badly, although this could not be confirmed by crematorium staff.

Andy Hudson, head of environmental health services at City of York Council, said it was "highly unusual" for York Crematorium to be so busy, even at this time of year. He said there were only two bookings now left available for next week, although it could handle an additional couple of cases where people were happy for services and committal to take place at a church, before cremation at the crematorium.

The number of cases handled over the past month was higher than the same period last year, he said.

The crematorium could only handle about 15 services per day, and a backlog built up when too many bookings came in.

In this case, people had the option of using alternative crematoria at Scarborough or Harrogate.

Richard Rymer, manager of Rymer's Funeral Service in York, said two clients had opted to switch to Scarborough, where there were now two crematoria, making it better able to cope with demand.

But York District Hospital mortuary is not suffering any difficulties in coping with demand, as has happened elsewhere in the country, said Dr Andy Clarke. He said a recent increase in use of the mortuary was in line with the usual rise experienced at this time of year.

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