The Vale Crematorium is offering a bespoke service for music lovers, creating vinyl records infused with a loved one's ashes.

The new venture, stemming from a partnership with And Vinyly, aims to create a personal and unique memorial for grieving families.

The crematorium, in Evesham, is part of the Westerleigh Group, the UK's largest independent owners and operators of crematoria and cemeteries, continually seeking to provide unique memorial options.

Families can choose to make several seven inch or 12 inch records for a similar price to a vinyl.

The Vale crematorium manager Catherine Linfield said: "We are always looking to expand the range of memorial options available to the bereaved in order to give them the widest possible choice and help them to create uniquely personal memorials for their loved ones.

"What you receive is a real playable vinyl record containing around 18 minutes of audio on each side, along with a small amount of the ashes.

“And it is not only music that can form the soundtrack, many people choose to include recordings of special occasions or conversations with their loved one on the vinyl.

“The process enables people to design their own sleeve and label artwork too, if they wish, using templates provided by And Vinyly.”

Jason Leach, the Yorkshire-based music producer and music label owner who established And Vinyly in 2006, reiterated the collaborative and healing nature of the process.

He said: "We have developed a unique additional process that enables us to press a small amount of a loved one’s ashes into real vinyl records, creating an audio-visual memento.

"This can be collaborative and is, we have learned, often a cathartic experience, with friends and family contributing photographs and words, voicemails, answerphone messages and recordings of special times."

He added: “Our partnership with Westerleigh Group will enable us to serve even more bereaved and help them create beautifully bespoke vinyl records which can be kept at home, played and cherished for generations.”

Evesham locals interested in learning more about the vinyl records can visit the Vale Crematorium's website (www.thevalecrematorium.co.uk/ashes-in-vinyl).