CASH-strapped Sandwell Council will be the first local authority in the country to offer digital autopsies at no extra cost to bereaved families.

Advanced medical software company iGene London Ltd will open a new £1.2 million digital autopsy centre at Sandwell Valley Crematorium next month.

The centre will offer non-invasive post mortems to bereaved families from across the West Midlands.

In other parts of the West Midlands and the rest of the country, the £500+VAT cost of a digital autopsy will be met by the deceased's family. In Sandwell, the council will cover the cost if the person who died lived in the borough.

Digital autopsy involves using a CT scanner and creating a 3D reconstruction of a body, enabling the pathologist to conduct a full post mortem and establish the cause of death without a scalpel.

The technology will not replace the need for the traditional post mortem in all cases. The Coroner will decide if the circumstances of death are suitable for a digital autopsy.

Sandwell Council’s deputy leader Councillor Mahboob Hussain said: “It's distressing enough to lose a loved one, but to then find out that a post mortem is necessary can be extremely upsetting.

“The digital autopsy is non-invasive and the results are available quickly, which is going to be of real comfort to grieving families.

“We’re proud to be the first council in the country to work with the private sector to offer this service free of charge to residents.

“I feel it’s only right that bereaved families in Sandwell have the option to choose this incredible new technology without worrying about the extra cost.”

Professor Peter Gaines, consultant radiologist for iGene, said the council’s decision was “a bold and admirable move by a forward-thinking local authority that clearly cares about bereaved local families”.

He added: “Digital autopsy stands to revolutionise centuries-old post mortem practices, treating the dead with the same respect as the living and taking away one additional source of much anguish for their bereaved family.”