TRAVELLERS who have set up camp at a crematorium and cooked breakfast outside as funeral parties arrived have been labelled 'disgraceful'.

The group pitched up at Howe Bridge Crematorium car park at Lovers Lanes in Atherton on Monday.

And mourners were aghast to see them cooking food on outdoor stoves and wearing shorts and casual wear close to where hearses and funeral cars enter the cemetery grounds.

Chris Sudlow, who was a mourner at a funeral yesterday, Monday, said: “There were six or seven caravans parked all around the perimeter of the car park.

"I would say there were about ten to 12 men and women sitting on fold-down chairs, wearing shorts.

"An earlier mourner said they had a barbecue and were cooking breakfast on it.

"It was absolutely disgraceful.

"Can they not think of somewhere else to park rather than the entrance to a crematorium?”

Paul Barton, assistant director of environmental services at Wigan Council, said: “We have served an eviction notice to the travellers and if they have not left the site by Thursday, the bailiffs will be instructed to evict them. 

"We are disappointed that this location has been targeted again, which is extremely insensitive to grieving families and relatives.

“We did install some defensive measures and a height barrier following the first encampment, however, the original location of the barrier needed to be changed to accommodate funeral directors accessing the crematorium.

"Further work is underway to include extra fencing.

"We hope to have this work done as quickly as possible to protect the cemetery in future for our residents.”