An historic Tenby funeral bier stored in the Mayor’s Parlour could be in line for a refurbishment.

Clr. Trevor Hallett told his colleagues at Tuesday night’s meeting of the town council that he felt the item, which was now kept in the council chambers, needed restoring.

The funeral bier was kept in storage by Tenby funeral directors W. and M. J. Rossiter and Sons for over 30 years, before the town council took it in for safekeeping.

Councillors had hoped previously that Tenby Museum could display the item, but they didn’t have the space.

“It would be good if the funeral bier could be put back into an acceptable state, as it shouldn’t be left to rot away,” said Clr. Hallett.

Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, agreed, but stated that any restoration needed to be carried out professionally.

“It’s too important to have it botched, it needs to be restored properly,” she remarked.

The town clerk said that he had seen a traditional funeral bier used during the recent funeral of a former Mayor of Pembroke, and told councillors that he would contact Pembroke Town Council on the matter.

“If it is done well, then there could be an interest from funeral directors in the area to use it, which would be a nice idea,” added Clr. Will Rossiter.