A ‘LETTERS to a loved one’ postbox could be installed in Minehead’s Blenheim Gardens to help residents cope with bereavement.

Town councillors received a request from a local undertaker, understood to be Amanda-Louise Knight, who owns a female-run funeral business.

Ms Knight has long-encouraged people to write letters to loved ones, sometimes known as ‘letters to Heaven’, to help them mourn their loss and handle the grieving process.

She said such letters could be just one ‘goodbye’, or written regularly, almost like a journal, logging the life the person was living for the two of them.

However, the council kept most of the details of the proposal secret.

Now, councillors have agreed to run with the idea, but only if all funeral directors in the town were allowed to be part of it.

Councillors were told a ‘letters to a loved one’ postbox would be a way for individuals to commemorate and maintain a connection with the memory of a loved one.

Town clerk Ben Parker said the council’s involvement would be limited to granting permission for the use of its land and agreeing a suitable location.

Mr Parker said the funeral director would be responsible for the cost of installation, maintenance, operation, and management of the scheme.

Several potential locations were identified, including the sea front and the cemetery at Woodcombe, but Blenheim Gardens was accepted as a preferred location after a discussion on if it would be appropriate in a conservation area and whether it might be considered ‘intrusive’.

Councillors decided the initiative would be more appropriate if delivered collaboratively by local funeral directors rather than a single business.

They agreed by a majority vote to go ahead subject to the exact location of the postbox being agreed and all necessary permissions and consents being obtained, and to it being a collaboration between Minehead’s funeral directors.