Families who forked out hundreds of pounds for funerals with a company that shut down face losing their money.

Brighton-based Belmont Funeral Homes closed in November but its owners failed to pay for another operator to take on customers' pre-paid funerals.

Arka Original Funerals has now moved into the shop in Islingword Road, Brighton, and has so far been contacted by three families who were shocked to discover their arrangements were no longer valid.

One family only found out when they tried to put the plan into action following the death of a relative.

Cara Mair, a funeral director at Arka, said her company had bought the shop premises, not the business and was not connected to Belmont.

She said: "We were going to put a notice in the paper to find out how many people have been affected. So far we know about three but there could be more.

"We had one family who contacted us because their mother had died. We sorted out the funeral arrangements but let them know the prior payment was not valid. We've passed the details on to a debt collector and are hoping they can track them down and get the money back.

"Belmont stopped trading so we didn't take on the business as a going concern, we just moved into their old building."

Marion Strong, 99, paid Belmont £750 for her funeral in 1993 and was promised her family would never have the stress of organising a funeral after her death.

Now her son Rod, 66, of Hammy Lane, Shoreham, has found out the contract is worthless.

He said: "My mother is in a nursing home and we were sorting out her paperwork. We knew she had made funeral arrangements in 1993 to save us the hassle so it was awful to find out it no longer stands.

"I wonder how many other families are in the same position - there could be dozens.

"It's a horrendous thing to happen because this will hit people when they are at their lowest, following the death of a loved one."