FEES at Milford Haven cemetery are to rise by five per cent, following a heated debate by councillors on Monday night.

Town councillors were asked to vote on proposals to increase all fees – with the exception of headstone inscriptions – by five per cent from April 1, 2015, keeping Milford Haven by far the cheapest place to be buried in Pembrokeshire.

But Cllr Guy Woodham said the town cemetery was currently drastically under-charging for burials when compared with Pembrokeshire County Council rates.

He said running costs were expected to reach almost £60,000 by the end of the year, but only bring in £38,760 – leaving around £20,000 left to find.

Cllr Woodham said this ‘deficit’ meant around 5,000 households in the town were currently paying an extra £4 a year to keep the cemetery running, paid via the annual precept.

Recommending a fees increase of 25 per cent, Cllr Woodham said: “That might sound a lot, but we’ll still be charging less than other councils, and be cheaper than cremation.”

He also proposed establishing a cemetery fees sub-committee, to look at how the council could further increase its income from the site over the next few years.

Predicting opposition, he added that low income families would be eligible for funeral payment grants to help cover the cost.

But Cllr John Cole said it would be “disgraceful to force people to apply for a funeral grant”, and Cllr Tony Eden described the proposals as “disgusting” and “shameful”.

Cllr Mike George said bereavement was “probably the most traumatic time in a family’s life” and he would hate to see Milford Haven “in competition” with other cemeteries.

Cllr Rhys Sinnett said a five per cent increase would be too low, and a 25 per cent increase too high, but agreed that a committee should be set up to look at fees “in more detail”.

“We need to look at how we’ll close the gap over a longer period of time,” he said.

Preceding the vote, Cllr Woodham said it was not fair for thousands of household to have to “subsidise” the cost of funerals, adding that any councillor who voted to keep fees ‘artificially low’ should be prepared to justify their decision to the people of the town.

Members were split down the middle on the vote, with Mayor Cllr Eric Harries using his casting vote to secure the original five per cent increase.

Councillors also voted in favour of establishing a new sub-committee: eight in favour, four against.