A Labour-run council has been forced to ditch plans to impose a 20 per cent ‘fat tax’ on wider burial plots after facing a furious backlash.
The embarrassing U-turn comes after the City of Wolverhampton Council was accused of ‘discrimination’ against larger people and a ‘lack of empathy’ towards grieving families.
The premium which was given the go ahead in May would mean a 6ft-wide plot at Danescourt Cemetery in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton would cost families £2,700 - a hefty 20 per cent premium on the cost of a standard 5ft grave.
However, after facing criticism over the move, a spokesperson for the council said ‘we have decided not to proceed with the plans’.
Ross Hickton, of Hickton Family Funeral Directors in the West Midlands, said the ‘fat tax’ would ‘push more people into funeral poverty’.
