FEUDING brothers who have not spoken to each other for three years will run rival funeral firms just yards apart.
Patrik and Jonathan Bewley will operate separate funeral companies in Melksham as a long-running family rift comes to a head.
Father-of-four Patrik, 46, said he has been to "hell and back" in his bid to breakaway from a partnership with his older brother and mother.
He says the financial and emotional stress has taken a heavy toll on his family - his four children have not spoken to their uncle or grandmother for three years.
The row began after the death of father Dennis Bewley in 1997 who set-up DJ Bewley funeral service in the 1970s in Melksham.
Patrik said the working relationship with brother Jonathan reached breaking point forcing him to split up the family partnership.
Taking his father's business name in a mediation process last year, Patrik has been desperately searching for new premises in Melksham as his brother owns the Church Street base he currently occupies.
He said: "We have found a new premises in High Street. It will be a new era for us and we are looking forward to it.
"I am the one carrying on my dad's name. He had built up a reputable business and I am proud to carry it on.
"My brother has been gone from the town for 25 years. I always stuck with Melksham and I have always supported the people in Melksham."
Patrik started work with his father in 1980 and hopes his 20-year-old son Ryan will take on the business in the future.
Patrik, who opened a base in Duke Street, Trowbridge last year, snapped-up the former Future Resources premises in High Street after a six-month search.
He said: "The new premises in Melksham will be bigger and we will have a high street presence.
"My son wants to take over the business from me and two of my daughters work part-time already."
Brother Jonathan, who is a partner in Corsham-based Merrett Funeral Directors and a second funeral firm in Devizes, said he saw nothing wrong with healthy competition.
He said: "The problem was Patrik fell out with his mother. He wanted to leave the partnership.
"Patrik never owned the Church Street property. It was a separate entity. We are already trading as AD Bewley in Melksham."
Jonathan's firm AD Bewley has been operating from a house in Round-ponds but will take over the Church Street base in June.
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