Municipal crematoria and cemeteries in Glasgow could soon be run by private firms as the local authority reports record low usage and a shortfall in income of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Since last April, the number of cremations in the city has dropped by more than 1000 - down by 25% on the recent average - while turnover from the service is £350,000 less than anticipated.

The council admits there has also been a financial knock-on through unsold memorials, flowers, caskets and "associated ancillary products".

The shortage of funerals going through its books has now prompted the city council to attempt to take on competition by allowing weekend burials and cremations for the first time, while discussions have taken place over the more critical action of forming a pact with the private sector.

However, Glasgow's problems, while bigger than most in the UK, are not unique. According to the professional body for the management of graveyards and crematoria, partnerships - where private firms manage and operate council-owned facilities - are increasingly seen by local authorities as the only way to maintain a meaningful role in the service.

In the UK, more than 70% of all funerals are now cremations, in large because they are generally cheaper, quicker and easier than the traditional burial with its associated costs, availability hassles and environmental qualms.

With no profit in interment, firms such as Dignity Funerals have made strides to corner the crematoria market, opening facilities in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire as well as Dundee in the past decade and offering rates competing with council funerals.

In Glasgow, the annual average number of cremations is now 4500, down 1000 on the most recent five-year average. The council charges £311 to the bereaved of its citizens and £467 to non-residents.

According to Tim Morris, chief executive of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematoria Management, public sector funerals are increasingly the "Cinderella option".

Mr Morris, whose organisation represents the public and private sectors, said: "Just on the basis of the choice they offer, such as headstones and packages, private firms have a commercial advantage and offer very competitive rates.

"Their facilities are kept in tip-top condition for obvious reasons whereas there's lots of pressures on local authorities whose cemeteries and crematoria are often under-funded, under-staffed and overstretched."

The issue was, until last May's elections, on the agenda for the the umbrella body for Scotland's 32 councils, Cosla. However, the working group was disbanded when its chairman, an Ayrshire Labour councillor, was not re-elected.

The Scottish Government is considering the shortage of burial space in Scotland. A proposal has been put forward to allow public authorities to reclaim any grave unused for 75 years, moving existing remains deeper underground.