A 17-year-old has just, in all probability, become the youngest undertaker in the country.

George Simnett has decided to turn his back on the family farming business and set up his own funeral directors firm.

George, from Coleorton, is now the proud director of GE Simnett and Family Funeral Directors, running the firm on his own.

He formed the company a month ago after serving an apprenticeship for Phillip Collin, the owner of Charnwood Funeral Services, in Loughborough.

He has already collected, embalmed and prepared a number of bodies and led a cortege to the church.

George said: "I know it's a bit strange for someone of my age to want to be an undertaker, but it's something I really want to do.

"Even when I went to family funerals as a little boy, I used to see undertakers looking so smart and dignified and think to myself "I'd like to do that. That could be me".

"I know it sounds weird, but I really did.

"I was studying agriculture at college and was all ready to follow in the footsteps of my granddad, who was a farmer, but I realised that there probably wasn't much money in that."

George said he was comfortable dealing with death after growing up on a farm.

He said: "Death is nothing unusual for me. I'm not squeamish about handling bodies at all.

"It's not the part of the job I enjoy the most, but it's fine. I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't.

"I prefer helping the families of the deceased get the best send-off that they can for their loved ones.

"A lot of the job is about being caring and understanding with people who are in a very difficult emotional place.

"That's the part I love because it's so satisfying when you get it right.

"Some people might be put off by my age but I haven't come across anyone who has had a problem so far.

"I took charge of my first funeral for Phillip the other Saturday and it went really well so I know I can do it."

George will be using Mr Collin's parlour and hiring hearses until he gets his business fully established.

His mum, Wendie, a nurse, was shocked when George told her about his ambition.

She said: "I was completely taken aback when he said he wanted to be a funeral director.

"I thought 'that's not right – shouldn't you want to be a mechanic, or a firefighter, or something a bit more conventional for a young man'.

"But when I saw George leading a cortege for the first time I was so proud. I am fully behind him. As a mum, I do worry about how he will handle being surrounded by all that grief and death but he is the most mature and most sensitive 17-year-old there is.

"He's already looking around for his own premises to rent. He's very much the entrepreneur."

Mr Collin, who has been a funeral director for nearly 30 years, said: "For someone so young, George is a natural. He's taken to all aspects of the job with such enthusiasm.

"I have to admit he is very young but from what I have seen when he has been working with me he'll have no problem.

"He could have easily signed up as a small part of a big funeral firm, but it says a lot that he wants to strike out on his own."

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