THE cost of dying is set to rocket in Oxford.

A pensioners' group today attacked plans to raise the price of burials and increase the charge for reserving a grave plot by more than 50 per cent.

Age Concern said the proposal by Oxford City Council was an extra burden for bereaved relatives who were already at their most vulnerable.

If approved, the higher charges would raise about 6,000 extra for the council each year. Next week, councillors will decide whether to:

*Raise the charges for reserving a 9ft by 5ft grave site from 135 to 200

*Raise the price of buying land to bury cremated ashes from 115 to 135

*Raise the cost of buying rights to a burial site for an adult for 75 years from 260 to 270. Hundreds of Oxford people reserve grave sites each year and demand has led to fears that the city council will run out of space within 15 years.

But the idea has angered pensioners who are likely to be left having to find the cash to bury their loved ones or enough money to cover their own funeral expenses.

Mrs Mary Daniels, director of Age Concern in Oxford, said: "It seems to me that bereaved people are not the right people to be addressing the council's shortfalls in income.

"The cost of funerals generally is an on-going problem in Oxford. "It can be an additional problem for the people at an already difficult time.

"I think we could make representations to the council to ask them to find the money elsewhere."

"It's hard to say how strongly people will feel if the increase goes ahead. It's going to hit people when they at their lowest, at their most vulnerable."

Andrew Parson, the city's parks manager, said the changes would have been proposed whether the council needed more money or not.

He said: "We review the prices every year.

"The council needs to balance its books. We always increase fees at the very least in line with inflation. If we don't, it is hard to catch up later.

"The reality of the situation is that our charges are smaller than it costs us to actually bury someone.

"And the demand for grave space is very high."

He added: "We want to increase the cost of rights to bury cremated ashes because we found we were charging less than other authorities and we had to bring the fees in line."