Funeral firm bids to track down a tandem hearse

A funeral company is appealing for help to find a "tandem hearse", so that a man who died last week can go on a final ride with his friends.

A Natural Undertaking, a Birmingham company that offers bespoke funerals, wants to find one of the specialised bicycles for a man who planned his memorial before he died.

"That was his request - to go to where he's going to, with four friends, and he wants a final ride with them," said Kerri Deeley, an undertaker at the company.

A tandem hearse can either have two riders with a coffin attached to the side, or four riders with a coffin on a platform in the middle.

Ms Deeley said she had found a company that could supply a tandem hearse in October, when she first met the man to discuss his funeral.

He had planned for his friends to do a four-mile ride with his body to the spot where he would be buried.

However, when Ms Deeley contacted the company again after he died, their tandem hearse was out of service as it needed repairs.

"I’ve literally tried the length and breadth of Britain to try and locate another one," she told BBC Radio WM.

The funeral company, which has offices in Kings Heath and Hall Green, now hopes members of the public can help it with leads.

A Natural Undertaking often works with people who are terminally ill and want to plan a unique funeral. Ms Deeley said they had organised fancy dress and biker-themed memorials - and even one event where the deceased person asked to be dressed as a clown.

"It’s a nice memory to have for the family. They’ve done what they can to make their loved one's final journey how they want it to be," she said.

"It’s such a fulfilling job. When we get into the cars afterwards, we look at ourselves and think: 'We did that, we made that wish come true'."

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