Action pledged over car park ‘chaos’ at Moray crematorium

The owners of Moray’s crematorium have pledged to investigate car park improvements after a local mourner reported “chaos” at recent ceremonies.

Derek Dryburgh, 73, said he had witnessed traffic problems at the site near Buckie after attending two funerals in the last few months.

He said that services can now overlap at the crematorium and the capacity in the car park is “no longer fit for purpose”.

The Whitehills resident added: “With no traffic management and no ‘one-way system’, chaos ensues. On one occasion we witnessed an arriving hearse prevented from gaining access and the following traffic backed up to the Buckie road end.

“On our most recent visit we were obliged to park on the grass verge of an adjacent road, then had to walk on the main Keith to Buckie road with no pavement.

“In time someone is going to be injured due to the traffic congestion.”

A spokesman for Dignity, which own the crematorium, said: “We are very sorry that this gentleman’s experience of our crematorium did not meet his expectations.

“Our car park has capacity for approximately 80 vehicles and this meets the need of the vast majority of congregations.

“However, we will investigate how we can make improvements but there are restrictions due to areas where ashes are interred or scattered or work would require the removal of trees, which would be detrimental to the appearance of the grounds.”