CROYDON is the third most expensive place to be cremated and the fifth most expensive to buried in the UK, according to disputed figures from a union.
Croydon Council hit back at the GMB for its figures, which the authority said included a range of associated costs, which were not taken into account for other areas.
Sun Life Direct Cost of Dying Survey 2012 spokesman Simon Cox said that although "some of their data was incorrect... in terms of other crematoria, [Croydon] does appear to be one of the most expensive crematoria in the area."
He said that GMB's statistics did not necessarily mirror the "cost of dying" as an average, which should include funeral director costs and be more representative.
In the case of GMB, the costs only included prices for services offered by the council, often based on the most expensive options that not all families choose.
However, he praised GMB for "breaking down the taboo of questioning what is just put in front of them" when it comes to funeral prices.
"For the last few years the focus has tended to be on funeral directors. But the more we have studied third-party costs, although they are often a smaller proportion of the overall cost of dying, the more you can see that it is local authority costs that are going up faster than anything else."
Mr Cox added the public needed to "ask questions" of their councils when it comes to further increases in prices over the coming years.
Croydon Council explained the sharp rise in prices as being due to withdrawal of council funding into cemeteries and crematoria, which now run at cost. In addition to this, "price changes over the last ten or so years reflect the increasing shortage of grave sites and the investment that we have made in the crematorium to meet stringent emissions rules laid down by the Government".