A BEREAVED family feared they would have to abandon their funeral cars and carry their mother's coffin into Overdale Crematorium after parked vehicles blocked their way.

The family feared the worst when their funeral cortege was stuck for nearly 20 minutes on the access road leading to the chapel.

And now Sheila McNulty, who was attending her mother's funeral, has hit out at the crematorium's parking arrangements.

The family had gathered to pay their last respects to her 86-year-old mother Helen Worthington, who lived in Little Lever.

After a service at St Matthew's Church, Little Lever, the hearse was followed by six funeral cars for committal at Overdale.

But Mrs McNulty and her relatives were appalled to find the road to the chapel was blocked with badly parked cars.

"Several elderly ladies in our party were panic stricken," Mrs McNulty said. "I am sure only the expertise of the funeral car drivers and the following car drivers avoided many accidents."

The cortege eventually had to reverse out and reach the chapel via the exit road.

"This unfortunate episode did absolutely nothing for the dignity and solemnity of the occasion," said Mrs McNulty.

Mr Paul Sillett, who organised Mrs Worthington's funeral, said the problem with parked cars at Overdale is similar to many other cemeteries which were not originally designed to take so much traffic.

He called for a one way system to be enforced and double yellow lines to be placed along one side of the access road.

But John Shepley, Bolton's deputy director of leisure services, who is in charge of Overdale, said that Mrs McNulty's complaint is the first he has received for several years and the crematorium already has a large new car park.

But he added that the access road is not an adopted highway so parking restrictions and a one way system cannot be legally enforced.

"Clearly it is a busy crematorium and if there are two large funerals on at the same time then it can be congested," he said.

"But we will have to look at it and see if there is anything we can do to improve the signs to the car park."

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