UK funeral company: Bodies stored like 'television sets'

An undercover reporter made some startling discoveries about the practices of Co-operative Funeralcare. Photo / Thinkstock

The UK's biggest funeral company has launched an inquiry after an undercover reporter revealed dead bodies were being stored like "television sets" in a warehouse.

Former funeral ombudsman Professor Geoffrey Woodroffe has described the practices employed by Co-operative Funeralcare as "shocking" after watching the footage obtained for the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary.

They secretly filmed staff working in a so-called "hub", a warehouse situated on an industrial estate off a busy motorway.

The report said the building contained a large refrigerated area where racks of bodies were stored ahead of funerals, with some corpses just centimetres apart from each other.

"I had no idea that they're treating people as if they're stacking television sets really," Woodroffe said.

"I'd hate to think that a member of my family would have been treated in that way. No, I find it shocking."

When families asked to see their loved ones, the body would be taken back to the funeral home, a journey of up to 50 kilometres, according to the documentary.

The undercover journalist reported that on one occasion, the lid was taken off a coffin as staff tried to fit four coffins into a van.

It was carried out without a lid when it reached its destination, near a block of flats.

A Co-operative Funeralcare spokesman said they were yet to see the program but added: "As the UK's leading funeral provider, The Co-operative Funeralcare is proud of the support and service it provides to bereaved families and we have a long-established reputation for delivering highly professional services.

"We are however shocked and disappointed by the information provided to us by this program, which goes against everything we stand for.

"We do not believe that the instances shown in the program are representative of our many caring staff."

-AAP