Rasen pub’s transformation to funeral home

A site which has served the town as a pub for hundreds of year has been transformed into a state-of-the-art funeral home.

Lincolnshire Co-op has spent more than £300,000 on the conversion of the King Street building, formerly The Chase and previous to that The Greyhound.

The official opening was held last Thursday, along with a service of dedication led by the Rev Steve Johnson and the Rev Anne Coates.

Among the invited guests was Market Rasen’s Deputy Mayor Stephen Bunney, who praised Lincolnshire Co-op for the renovation of the site.

He said: “We welcome the investment of over £300,000 by the Co-op into one of the town’s most historic pub sites.

“They have done a very good job, and hopefully it will spur other landowners on to follow their example.

“As a council, we thank the Co-op for their continued interest and investment in the town.”

Lincolnshire Co-op chief executive Ursula Lidbetter was on hand to welcome everyone to the opening.

She said: “Lincolnshire Co-op has had a very long association with Market Rasen.

“We have owned this building for some time and have had many tenants here.

“We decided it was time for us to take it on and make it something to serve the community.”

The new funeral home includes an arrangement lounge, reception, and a chapel of rest.

There is also an extra room for families to spend private time together, plus state-of-the-art facilities for looking after clients’ loved ones

Continuing their community support, cheques for £250 were received by representatives from the town’s Bowling Club and Lions Club.

The new funeral home has created one job and has lead to the increase of hours for other employees.

It has also been announced Lincolnshire Co-op will be opening an arrangement office in Caistor later this year.