I WANT to share a distressing experience with your readers. Last Monday(12th) was my Mum's funeral it was at 12.30 at Canford Crematorium.

We were waiting for the hearse to come to our house and at about 12.10 it had still not arrived I rang the funeral company in case they had gone straight to Canford by mistake. I could hardly believe it when they told me the hearse had been delayed because the driveway was blocked by a van delivering to a kebab shop nearby.

Apparently the lady directing the funeral, one of the staff from the funeral parlour and even a rag man collecting from another shop in the rank had all asked the van driver and/ or staff in the kebab shop to move the van to no avail.

Because we were late everyone rushed in to the crematorium and my poor husband who relies on a mobility scooter was still trying to park it up and sit in a pew as the opening address ended. Everyone was very upset because it was obvious we were late and the service was rushed, though the funeral company and minister tried very hard to minimise the impact this had on those of us who were mourning the loss of my Mum.

I went into the kebab shop the next day to ask them what had gone on, they were adamant they were not to blame!

I rang the police to see if they could do anything but apparently communal driveways are not part of their remit, so I am reduced to writing you in an effort to shame them.

I am told there have been several altercations with this particular takeaway service/ delivery vehicles associated with their business. There appears to be no similar difficulty with the 8-10 companies which also share this driveway.

The funeral directors were there long before the takeaway and therefore the takeaway owners had ample opportunity to consider the implications of choosing these premises and the possible impact of other businesses using the communal driveway.

There is only one funeral directors on Shirehampton High street with a kebab shop close by, so I hope as they were so ingracious as to offer so much as a simple verbal apology they will accept the shame of this letter.

I hope it will help them reconsider their actions in future.

A loving daughter