A FUNERAL director who has travelled all over the world working in disaster zones as part of an international emergency service is now expanding his own funeral firm in south Wiltshire.

Alan Puxley, 64, who runs Will Case & Partners with his wife, Sue, spent 11 years with Kenyon International after being invited to join the team in 2001.

Flying to the scenes of bombings, plane crashes and tsunamis, Mr Puxley helped victims and families by recovering bodies and was involved with the management of personal effects – a painstaking process which includes the search, inventory and storage of thousands of items before they are returned to families.

Retiring from his position in 2012, he agreed to act as a consultant for the organisation but just three weeks later he suffered a stroke and his wife and daughter were told not to expect him to survive.

However, through sheer determination and the care of his family, he not only proved the doctors wrong but, following the death of Mary Case in 2013, went onto acquire the firm and is now focusing on expansion.

And, having spent 23 years working at Will Case & Partners before taking up the post with Kenyon, he knows the firm inside out and is “dedicated to providing the personal service with the compassion and care that it is known for”.

Mr Puxley, who has the distinction of being past National President of both The British Institute of Funeral Directors and the British Association for Human Identification, said: “It’s a lovely little business which has been in the Case family for nearly 150 years – it’s a well-respected brand and so we thought we would take it forward into the future.

“We are a family business still and whoever meets the family at the beginning will be there throughout the arrangements and at the crematorium or church.

“Our price list is on our website so there’s no mystery and anybody who hasn’t got much money can come and talk to us and we will do the very best we can to meet their price.”

While Will Case & Partners opened a new branch in Ludgershall last year, it has just moved into larger premises in the centre of Amesbury and is planning to refurbish its office in Stephenson Road, Salisbury later this year.

The firm has four funeral directors – Mr and Mrs Puxley, Christopher Orledge and Mike New together with three further employees: Amy Spreadbury, Tim Babey and Leona Wells who are all working to becoming qualified. The new premises in Salisbury Street, Amesbury, was given a civic seal of approval, being officially opened by Amesbury’s deputy mayor cllr John Swin-dlehurst.