THE cost to cremate a loved one is currently higher in Darlington than in any other North-East council area.

Bereaved families, who spend around £4,155 on funeral costs in the region, on average are spending just under £800 on cremation fees.

Despite the North-East being one of Britain's cheapest region's to be cremated, according to SunLife, fees charged by each council vary by hundreds of pounds.

Based on a weekday cremation of a person over the age of 18 at time of death, the fee charged by Durham County Council is almost £200 less than the fee charged by Darlington Borough Council.

At time of publication the 2019/2020 fee, including medical reference fees and environmental surcharge fee, imposed by each council for an adult on a weekday is:

Durham County Council £700

Gateshead Council £739

Hartlepool Borough Council £761

Stockton Borough Council £765

North Tyneside Council £765.40

Middlesbrough Council £772

Northumberland County Council £800

South Tyneside Council £816

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne City Council £842

Sunderland City Council £865

Darlington Borough Council £875

In response to the findings, a spokesperson for Darlington Borough Council said: “Unfortunately, it has been necessary to increase crematorium costs in recent years.

"We have tried to keep these increases to a minimum. We review all crematorium charges annually and monitor charges in other areas.”

Council's across the UK are set to review the cost of cremation and burial fees in the next financial year on April 1.