Family of woman 'too fat' to be cremated sues French crematorium - Crematorium.eu News about crematoria in Europe - www.crematorium.eu informs about crematoria in Europe- Krematorium.eu- crematorio.eu, find a crematorium

The family of an obese woman whose body was 'too fat' to be cremated is suing a French crematorium for discrimination.

Danielle Pelabarrere, 63, who weighed 22-stone, died of a heart attack in Merignac, near Bordeaux on Saturday.

When her husband Andre booked her coffin into the local crematorium however, he was told it was two inches too wide to fit into the incinerator. The family also tried crematoriums in neighbouring French towns, but none were able to help.

Only Toulouse, which is 100 miles away, said it had an incinerator large enough to take the three-feet wide coffin. Mr Pelabarrere is now demanding compensation from the crematorium "for its inability to meet our needs."

"It is an outrage. She was mocked for her size in life, and now she is being mocked in death," he said.

Jean-Claude Oruezabal, the Merignac crematorium manager, denied discrimination.

"We accept people and coffins of any size in principle, but in this case it just wont fit and there is nothing we can do", he said.