Anger at plans to massively hike burial and cremation fees saw a usually quiet council meeting besieged by dozens of angry residents.

Kirklees Council revealed last week that it wanted to hugely increase the cost of dying.

The report recommending significant rises in the prices of burials, cremations and out-of-hours services, has sparked outrage, particularly among Muslim communities.

An 85% increase in the cost of a single burial between next year and 2022 could see the cost rising to £1,524 from the current charge of £826.

But plans to bring in new fees of as much as £477 for “out of hours” burials and a £99 premium for Friday afternoons have caused the most anger.

Religious protestors have claimed the new charges discriminate against them as certain faiths, including Muslims and Jews, require their dead are buried as soon as possible and so they cannot be scheduled to cheaper “off peak” times.

At the council’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday anger spilled over as spokesmen for mosques and various communities lined up to argue with council leader Clr David Sheard.

Prior to the meeting a petition was launched by the Muslim Burial Council, North Kirklees (MBKNK), declaring the proposed fees as “morally questionable.”

Councillors across North Kirklees and Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff have reportedly been inundated with calls from angry constituents.

The pressure prompted the cabinet to defer the plan to increase the fees for “further engagement”, prior to the cabinet meeting.

But despite the potential u-turn, members of the religious groups turned up in force to have their say.

Khalid Khan from Huddersfield Muslim Burial Council (HMBC) said it was “shocking news” for people in Kirklees and the cabinet should “think twice” before raising the fees.

He added: “I think it’s the wrong decision to burden on bereaved families. It’s going to hit Muslim and Buddhist communities very hard.”

Another from HMBC said: “These proposals haven’t considered religion or beliefs as required by the Equality Act 2010.”

Ayzaz Khaliq said people were dismayed that the plans could have been pushed through so quickly if they hadn’t complained so forcefully.

“It’s very distasteful,” he said.

Another said it was “religious discrimination” and “horrendous” that mosques had not been consulted.

He threatened the council with a judicial review and demanded the council officer who wrote the report be excluded from further input.

One person claimed it was only through the “strength of the community” that councillors had opted to delay the proposal.

Dewsbury MP Miss Sherriff made the unusual move of attending the cabinet meeting to oppose her Labour council counterparts.

She spoke up for the protestors, saying she realised the council was struggling to balance the books amid “unnecessary austerity” from the government but said she had been contacted by a huge number of her constituents who were upset at the plan.

“These increases are completely unaffordable for the vast majority of people,” she said.

“Muslim and Jewish burials must take place as soon as possible after death.

“This disproportionately affects Muslim, Jewish and Catholic faiths and will raise anxiety of how they can afford to bury their loved ones.”

Clr Sheard vowed the council would listen and denied claims that the council was trying to rubberstamp the report.

He said: “The fact there’s so many people here today shows democracy is working.”

Clr Sheard said details about how the public could give feedback on plans to increase or alter burial fees would be published within a week.

Plans to remove all burial charges for children were agreed by members of the cabinet.