The company that operates crematoria in Norwich has today apologised to families who are having to wait for funerals because of ongoing maintenance work.

Some families are having to wait up to five weeks before they can hold the funeral of a loved one due to work taking place at Earlham Crematorium in Norwich and St Faith's Crematorium.

The crematoria are operated by Dignity which has issued a statement apologising for the delays said it is sorry about the delays which are due to ongoing maintenance work.

A spokesman said: 'We are really sorry that at present some families may have to wait for the service time they want, however, early morning or late afternoon services are available from May 16.

'At St Faith's Crematorium we had scheduled to replace all three existing cremators with state-of-the-art equipment as part of our ongoing maintenance programme - an investment of approximately £0.5 million. All funeral directors were advised in writing prior to the work commencing.

'Unfortunately, once this work began, unscheduled, emergency maintenance was necessary on the brickwork surrounding a cremator at Earlham as this had become unsafe to operate. Once the work is completed new cremators at St Faith's won't be required again for another 20 years.'

Have you or your family been affected by the delays? Email peter.walsh@archant.co.uk