A FUNERAL directors with offices in Plympton and Ivybridge is celebrating after six members of staff aced the industry’s highest qualification.

The staff, from family-owned business Walter C Parson, passed the British Institute of Funeral Directors’ Diploma in Funeral Service with flying colours.

The course, which is externally accredited by Greenwich University, is the highest funeral industry qualification in Europe.

Since 2010, the firm has had its own in-house school of funeral directing, run by director and accredited tutor David Parslow at its St Judes office.

David said: ’I am extremely proud of the six students who have passed their Diploma in Funeral Service. The course took place over a period of 18 months and the achievement of the students shows their commitment to offering the highest possible service to the clients they serve on a daily basis.

’Not only were the group of students ranked as the six highest in the country, Vikki MacNeill, who joined WCP in September 2015, was recognised with the BIFD award for receiving the overall highest marks in the country.’

The six latest diploma holders bring the number of fully qualified staff across the company’s ten offices to 24.