A leading Dorset funeral director has welcomed government plans to increase regulation of the industry.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the Department of Health and Social Care will be ‘taking the lead’ in the changes. It follows several scandals including two in Hampshire and one in Hull that saw an unscrupulous funeral director hoard bodies and ashes.

Nick Douch, managing director of Douch Family Funeral Directors that runs seven branches in Dorset, said he agreed that more should be done to stop ‘rip off providers’, as Streeting described them.

Nick added:

“The majority of funeral directors are honest and provide a professional service. But there are a minority who give everybody else a bad name and will rip people off and provide an extremely unprofessional service."

“These behaviours are bad enough in other industries, but dealing with those mourning the loss of a loved one gives funeral directors a much bigger responsibility. People at this time are vulnerable and more easily taken advantage of and it is greatly upsetting to see funeral directors do exactly this."

“Therefore I welcome any regulations that prevent it from happening – those of us who act professionally need have nothing to fear. It will be interesting to see what regulation is brought forward and how it will be enforced.”

Streeting said funeral regulation in England had been ‘all over the place’ and ‘non-existent’ in some areas.

He added:

"We will be taking a lead in the Department of Health and Social Care of working across government to make sure we've got effective funeral legislation in place."

It follows the case of Robert Bush in Hull who will be sentenced in July after he admitted hoarding 30 bodies, half a tonne of human ashes and fraudulently running his business.

In Hampshire, two undertakers were jailed for four years for preventing a lawful and decent burial, causing a public nuisance by keeping bodies in unrefrigerated conditions and fraudulent trading.

In Leeds, a funeral director was banned from NHS maternity wards and mortuaries after keeping babies' bodies at her home.

Nick added:

“We have already been working closely with local authorities in Dorset, having been selected as a pilot ‘champion’ to help shape what good inspection standards should look like."

“That kind of collaboration is important. Any regulation needs to be practical, consistent and focused on maintaining dignity and proper care for the deceased, while giving families confidence in the services they receive."

“Our family business has been operating for more than a century, our reputation is everything and we work incredibly hard to provide the best possible service.”

Douch Family Funeral Directors runs branches in Wimborne, Ferndown, Corfe Mullen, Parkstone, Blandford, Wareham and Swanage. It also runs an award-winning funeral plan.

Douch Family Funeral Directors have been helping families with funeral arrangements for over 100 years. Branches include Douch & Small, A E Jolliffe & Son, Albert Marsh, James Smith, Ives & Shand and Lesley Shand Funeral Service. They’re based in Wimborne, Ferndown, Wareham, Poole, Swanage, Blandford and Corfe Mullen.