Woolly coffin sales have increased, says Pudsey firm

A West Yorkshire textile company which makes woollen coffins said it has seen a marked increase in sales.

Pudsey-based family firm Hainsworth said sales had risen from 35 a month in April to 75 in August.

Adam Hainsworth, a director at the firm, said: "There's a market for alternative coffins and funeral directors are now more open to them."

The biodegradable fleecy coffins are now exported to America, Australia and Europe.

The firm said it saw a 29% increase in August after their range of woollen coffins were included in a brochure by a national chain of funeral directors in July.

Mr Hainsworth said: "People who've seen them like the look of them. Not only are they aesthetically nice to look at but they're also green."

Royal request

He said sales were now averaging between 70 and 80 coffins a month compared with 20 sales in 2009, when it first launched.

The coffins are made from British sheep's wool and recycled cardboard.

Prince Charles recently asked for the woollen coffins to be exhibited at an event in London promoting sustainable living.

In a speech, the prince who started a wool campaign earlier this year, said: "I was particularly insistent that the people who make woollen coffins were there."

A manufacturer of uniforms and textiles for the emergency services and the military for more than 200 years, Hainsworth drew inspiration from 17th century burial methods for their woollen coffins.

The 1667 Burial in Wool Act said the dead, except plague victims, should be buried in English woollen shrouds.