A MINEHEAD man has accused the West Somerset Railway of making "unjust" charges to have his father's ashes "scattered" in the firebox of one of its engines.

Chris Horsfield said he had expected to pay a nominal fee of around £20 as his father John, who died last August at the age of 68, had been a shareholder and long-standing member of the railway.

Instead, he said he had been asked to pay £325, a fee he branded as "scandalous".

"I was just speechless when they told me how much it would be as my father had given so much for the railway and I thought they could have done a little bit for him in return," Mr Horsfield said.

But railway general manager Paul Conbeare said the organisation had to make a charge to cover staff time and other administrative costs for providing the service.

He said the £325 charge included four free tickets for family members to travel on the train when the ashes were scattered, plus the dedicated, one-to-one services of a staff member on the day.

"I understand it is a difficult and emotional time for the family but we do have a lot of requests for this service and for that we have to make a small charge.

"It reflects the time it takes to organise, as it's not just a case of turning up on the day.

"It will take a member of staff a good couple of days to make the arrangements beforehand and then we have to get another staff member in to accompany the family on the day itself.

"I believe the charge is a fair reflection of the service we are providing," Mr Conibeare said.

He said Mr Horsfield had already been offered a discount of between £70 and £80 on the standard £325 charge as he had a pass for free travel on the railway and did not need tickets.

He also pointed out that the railway had 8,000 shareholders and numerous staff and it would simply not be feasible to offer people a discount based on their support for the heritage line.

Mr Horsfield is pictured with his mother Catherine at their home in St Michael's Road.

Photo: Steve Guscott