'It's heartbreaking': Leeds woman warns public to stay inside after being given just minutes at grandma's funeral

Sharon Bottomley, 40, was able to visit the service for her grandma - who had sadly passed away after battling dementia in a care home in Hunslet - for just a few minutes yesterday (April 7) on the driveway of a funeral home before she was 'driven away'.

Sharon, from Seacroft, said the service felt 'cold and upsetting' due to the lockdown restrictions and being made to stand two metres apart from the few mourners allowed at the home.

She told the Yorkshire Evening Post how she believed the virus was 'taking away the public's way of life'.

However, she said 'the longer people do as they please, the longer this will go on'.

Sharon said: "My grandma was battling dementia for a number of years and was living in a care home in Hunslet.

"It was very clear she was at the end of her life and we were allowed to see her the day she passed away, on mothers day.

"We knew that we weren't going to be able to have a service as she was being cremated at Cottingley crematorium but it didn't make it any easier on the day.

"It was very hard, we were all able to stand, socially distanced from each other, as they loaded my grandmas coffin into the hearse.

"We were given a few minutes with her, in the driveway of the funeral home.

"Then basically she was driven away."

Sharon said it was difficult to witness after seeing reports of youths playing football in the street and families having picnics.

She added: "This isn't going to affect them.

"The more deaths there will be, the more families will have to endure a day like we had to yesterday.

"It is heartbreaking."

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