Councils in Greater Manchester have issued guidance ahead of the Queen's funeral on Monday (September 19). It comes as funeral services across the UK have been cancelled due to the new bank holiday, which will allow Brits to pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The Manchester Evening News has asked all local authorities in Greater Manchester whether funerals are being cancelled. The full list responses received can be found below.
Oldham
Oldham Council was the first to respond, confirming any booked funerals would be going ahead.
Bury
Bury Council confirmed it had one funeral booked which will go ahead, but no further bookings are being taken for the day.
Manchester
Manchester City Council confirmed that no services are being cancelled on the bank holiday, unless specifically requested by the family.
They will also be running their usual services at the Southern Cemetery for Jewish and Muslim funerals, which require them to take place within a short time frame.
Manchester Crematorium - which holds services next to Southern Cemetery, the city's largest burial site - told the M.E.N. it would be 'business as usual' on Monday.
Trafford
Trafford Council said they are 'open and honouring all funerals booked with us for Monday', but confirmed their office will be closed. They also said they have contacted the funeral directors and given them the choice of re-booking if the families wanted to.
Salford
Salford City Council said it had a number of funerals which were booked for Monday 19 September before the announcement of the Queen’s death. It offered all families the option of rescheduling the services but only one chose to do so. Bereavement Services staff have volunteered to work on the Bank Holiday to ensure the funerals go ahead and no further distress is caused to families.
Rochdale
Rochdale Borough Council said they are still accommodating cremations on Monday, but understand that a planned burial has changed to later in the week as per the request of the funeral director/ministers. They said: "We are respecting families’ choices at this time".
Wigan
Wigan Council confirmed they have one funeral which was already booked in at the crematorium on Monday, so are 'honouring' that, saying 'staff are happy to do so'. They confirmed their office will be closed, and they have no burials so all cemetery operatives and office staff will be off.
They also added that all cemeteries remain open for visitors.
Stockport
Stockport Council told the M.E.N their Register Office will continue to honour birth pre-booked birth registrations and to offer death registrations where needed. They added that bereavement services will also continue to provide cremations and interments where the families wish these to go ahead.
Bolton
Bolton Council said they had 'liased with the bereaved' about arrangements for Monday, allowing mourners to reschedule, but confirming that funerals that the bereaved wished to go ahead would do so.
Tameside Council did not respond to our request for comment.
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