REDDITCH Borough Council’s crematorium has been selected from hundreds of nominees to go through to the final stages of this year’s prestigious Good Funeral Awards.

The facility has been put forwards in two categories, Crematorium of the Year and Crematorium Assistants of the Year by an external customer.

The crematorium has already won the national Green Apple Award for its heat recovery function which sees excess energy from the facility being used to heat the pool at the nearby leisure centre.

Initially seen as controversial and even "strange and "eerie" the council was the first in the country to use a crematorium in this way.

Redditch Borough Councillor Debbie Taylor, whose portfolio covers the crematorium, said: “This news is well-deserved. Redditch crematorium is one of the jewels in the borough’s crown, not only for it’s environmental credentials but because it provides a high standard of service to our communities, meeting diverse needs.

“And these nominations are testament to the hard work and compassion which the team put into delivering this service and my fingers will be crossed for them next month."

The council’s bereavement services manager Michael Birkinshaw, who supported the nominations, added: “We are absolutely delighted to have got this far in the awards and I am proud of my team which brings new ideas and innovation coupled with traditional values to deliver a service to vulnerable people with empathy, compassion, respect and over all individuality.”

The results of these latest awards will be announced at an event, hosted by TV presenter Penny Smith, on September 8 in London.