Hearse stopped by police on way to funeral

Police have been slammed for stopping a hearse on its way to a funeral and issuing the driver with a £60 penalty ticket. Traffic officers gave the driver of the car, which was carrying the coffin of a grandmother, the ticket for not wearing a seatbelt near Great Wilbraham.

Mum-of-five Gail Hardy was shocked to witness the incident and believes constables should not have interrupted the sombre trip. She argues it would have been better to have noted down the vehicle’s details, so any offences could be dealt with later in the day.

But the officer who issued the penalty defended his acting saying motorists in hearses were "just as likely to be involved in a collision as anyone else". Mrs Hardy was on her way to Cambridge for a shopping trip with her husband and teenage son when she saw police stop the funeral directors – and was so angered that she almost interrupted her trip to remonstrate with officers.

Mrs Hardy, of Wilfred Sherman Close, Newmarket, said: "That was somebody’s mother and grandmother – it’s disgusting. It was on its way to a funeral so the family were probably waiting somewhere, I couldn’t believe it. The police could have taken down the hearse’s number and dealt with it later in the day."