A funeral home in Bromsgrove is set to close for good after becoming "financially unsustainable". 

The Central Co-op has confirmed that its funeral care branch in Bromsgrove is among six which will be closing by early February next year. 

All funeral care colleagues at the branches affected are set to be relocated to neighbouring homes. 

Debbie Robinson, Chief Executive at Central Co-op, said: "We're committed to putting the welfare of our colleagues first when making these tough choices. 

"Any decision to sell or close our stores follows an extensive period of careful appraisal and enables the Society to redirect resources into future growth and further improvements across the business for our members, customers and colleagues." 

Central Co-op said the six funeral homes had been "financially unsustainable for some time" and whilst they are expected to close by February, the lease dates will be taken into consideration and planned funerals will go ahead. 

The decision to close to funeral homes is also due to the Society believing members and customers would be better served by consolidating its local funeral offerings into nearby branches. 

The closest Co-op funeral homes to Bromsgrove will now be Rubery or Redditch.  

As well as the six funeral homes, the Co-op have also decided to sell 19 of its food stores with 16 being transferred to Samy Limited and three stores being leased to B&M Retail Limited. 

The Society said it is confident that affected colleagues will be provided with alternative employment opportunities, and that the communities and members it serves will have access to a nearby Central Co-op store or another Co-op society store for their immediate needs.

This year, the Society has also invested more than £40 million into its food and funeral business and will have opened five new stores, regenerated 35 stores and refurbished 16 funeral homes across the business by the end of the year. 

For more information visit www.centralcoop.co.uk/