Now I'm ready to meet my maker

A GREAT-GRANDFATHER has planned his funeral in such detail he has even bought his coffin.

Ray Miles, who is in perfect health, saw the coffin advertised for sale in the Evening Telegraph's classified section and snapped up the bargain, which he says is a perfect fit.

But his wife has refused to have anything to do with it and will not let Mr Miles bring the coffin into the house.

The 80-year-old, of Carten Close,  Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England, said: "I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

"It was advertised for £100 and coffins like that cost seven times as much.

"I thought "that's a bargain," so I bought it.

"The chap was selling it because his wife didn't want it in the house, so he had to get rid of it.

"I told my wife I was buying it and she said exactly the same thing, so it's going to stay in storage until I need it.

"People go shopping and buy all sorts of things they don't want – I only buy things I really need, like a coffin.

"I've already got my burial plot down in Canterbury, now I've got the box to lie in. My wife thinks I'm so rotten I'll live to be 120."

An average funeral costs up to £2,300 and funeral director Michael Abbott, of Rushden-based A Abbott and Sons, said: "There's not a lot of demand for DIY funerals but we are there to advise.

"If you are buying your own coffin you have to make sure it's acceptable to be used.

"There are regulations about cremating coffins and they now have to be approved to make sure they do not emit toxins.

"But we do get a lot of strange requests at funerals. One 90-year-old wanted the song which was at the top of the charts played."