Teenager opens funeral parlour in Norton Canes

She has already achieved the unusual feat of becoming the country's youngest bodyguard aged just 18. Now, just over a year on, Jamie Barber has opened the first ever funeral parlour in a Staffordshire village.

While most other 19-year-olds are just starting to get to grips with the world of work, determined Miss Barber is running her new funeral parlour in Norton Canes, with a little help from her parents, and juggling studying to become a nurse and working as a bodyguard.

With her mother Lynn and father Michael, who both work in the funeral business, Miss Barber has opened Norton and District Funeral Directors in Brownhills Road.

Miss Barber, of Stag Crescent in Norton Canes, said she had been prompted to open the undertaker business after missing out on a university place this year.

But since then she has landed a spot to study nursing.

"I did lots of research and found there had never been a funeral home in Norton Canes before," said Miss Barber, a former pupil of Shire Oak School, in Walsall Wood. "So it's another first for me really."

The family have researched their home town and now images of it adorn the walls of the funeral parlour, while the coffins have been named after significant Staffordshire landmarks such as Chasewater.

"We're a Norton family born and bred so it's nice for people of Norton to be able to come to us in their home town.

"People may think it's an unusual thing for a young woman to be doing but my mum is an embalmer and my dad works in the funeral business too so I used to help her out. I needed a career."

But her other passion, as a bodyguard looks set to continue. While she remains tight-lipped about her clients, Miss Barber still carries out her duties three or four times a year.

In November 2009, Miss Barber was given a certificate on her 18th birthday to qualify as a bodyguard- making her the youngest one in the UK.