'Our troops should not be in German hearses'

By ablakeman

FUNERAL director Harry Mouat forked out for two Rolls-Royces, because he was upset at seeing fallen British troops in Mercedes-Benz hearses.

The 65-year-old spent £130,000 on the new vehicles, which will be used at his Longton-based business, Forrester Brothers of Staffordshire Limited.

Mr Mouat said he decided to spend the money on the hearse and limousine after watching the bodies of soldiers being returned to the UK from Afghanistan.

He said: "I was sat there watching the television last year and eight soldiers came back from Afghanistan in one day, and they were all put in Mercedes-Benz hearses.

"I was born during the war and I think it's a great shame that British soldiers are being put in German hearses.

"I think it's wrong to be honest and 20 years ago, there would have been an uprising of ex-British Legion people against it.

"Even the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent drives around in an Audi. The Lord Mayor is supposedly 'the' person in the city and should be driving around in a Rolls-Royce, or a Bentley."

The Rolls-Royce hearse, believed to be the only one of its kind in Stoke-on-Trent in the past 60 years, has been added to Mr Mouat's fleet.

In addition to his new Rolls-Royce, Mr Mouat has two Mercedes-Benz, which are used as standard by most funeral directors in the Potteries.

Mr Mouat said: "A lot of modern fleet vehicles are Mercedes-Benz and Fords and I just don't think the quality of them is good enough.

"People deserve to be sent off in dignity and you definitely get that with a Rolls-Royce.

"OK, the company might have been bought by Volkswagen, but it is still a truly British car and is a symbol of our country.

Mr Mouat, aged 65, is retiring this year and said he wanted to put something special on the road.

"I like to provide a quality service and this will let people go out with a bang," he said.

"I've had lots of customers tell me they think it's a wonderful idea because having a ride in a Rolls-Royce is something which most people will never get to do in their lifetime.

"This is giving them the chance to have their big send-off in style."

Former Crewe and Nantwich borough mayor Maurice Jones said: "It would be nice to see soldiers put in English hearses, but unfortunately it's the way the industry has gone.

"Rolls Royce set a tradition of engineering in Crewe and employed a highly-skilled workforce which formed the basis of an engineering town, but even Bentley now is German-owned.

"A lot of industry in Britain has been taken over by other countries."