FUNERAL hearses have been given the OK to go through amber lights on their way to graveyards.

The funeral Ombudsman has ruled that hearses should be able to travel as fast as any other vehicle.

He made the decision despite receiving nearly 100 complaints from aggrieved mourners saying their hearses were in an undue rush to get to the church.

Now his ruling has been slammed by Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans who likened the racy drivers to 'frustrated Nigel Mansells'.

In a letter to the funeral regulatory body he wrote: "The journey to the deceased's last resting place should not be akin to the final lap at Brands Hatch.

"When the vicar talks of having sympathy for those left behind, he should not be referring to the mourners left struggling to keep up with the funeral cortege, but to those who are grieving their nearest and dearest."

Local funeral director Neil Harvey of Balcarres Road, Leyland, said: "I have never never had any complaints from people about going too fast.

"I always walk in front of the hearse so they can't drive too fast."

Mr Harvey, a member of the Society of Allied Independent Funeral Director (SAIF), said speeding was against their strict code of practice.

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