The council will have to find at least £300,000 a year to fund the county’s coroners after it agreed to take over paying for the service from West Mercia Police.

Worcestershire County Council has agreed to start funding the entire coroner’s service after years of splitting the bill with West Mercia Police.

The county council would need to find £400,000 across the next four years – without any pay increases or inflation – and then almost £300,000 every year to cover costs.

West Mercia Police said the coroner’s service does not require the use of any police powers, such as arresting someone, and does not believe it to be part of “core” police work, and has therefore asked for the county council to start paying for all of it.

The extra expenditure comes at a time when the cash-strapped county council is desperately looking to cut millions from its budgets.

The county council was facing a £68m hole in its budget this financial year and £22m had to be cut – or ‘saved’ – to balance the books.

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The money woes would not be one-off, the council warned, with a further £45m expected to be slashed from its budget in the next three years.

Cllr Marcus Hart, the council’s cabinet member for communities, said ending the arrangement between the council and police was “logical” and “in the best interests of the service.”

“All of the staff involved are dealing with what can be very known as tragic, traumatic, and very sensitive issues,” he said at a cabinet meeting at County Hall on June 28. “We need a system in Worcestershire that is seamless, effective and efficient as possible for the residents that we serve and who will use this service.”

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By law, the council must appoint and pay for the county’s coroners, fund the coroner’s service, which includes removing bodies, post-mortems, and toxicology reports, and provide a court and office for the coroner to carry out their work.

While the county council is required by law to fund the county’s senior and assistant coroner roles, the responsibility of paying for the service’s staff has, historically, been met by West Mercia Police.

West Mercia Police said the coroner’s service does not require the use of any police powers, such as arresting someone, and does not believe it to be part of “core” police work, and has therefore asked for the county council to start paying for all of it.

The coroner’s service is run by six staff who carry out enquiries on behalf of the coroner, liaise with bereaving families, collate statements of evidence and organise post-mortems.

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Cabinet papers said the current six staff in the coroner’s office was “not sufficient” and more might need to be hired to bring it to an “appropriate” level.

West Mercia Police would continue to fund the service this year before paying less and less every year up until 2027 when the coroner service is taken over completely by Worcestershire County Council.

The move is expected to have been completed by October.