Suicide 'factory' reopens - next to a brothel

Now here is something you don't see every day.

Karl Rütsche, a spokesman for Schwerzenbach council, said it was not happy when it heard Dignitas had settled in its community but was powerless to act. 'Of course, as a council we tried to stop them moving here and we fought the Dignitas decision tooth and nail. We didn't want the country's biggest sex club and largest death factory side-by-side on our doorstep.' He added: 'Having lost the battle to keep them away at least we can say that - on a positive note - everyone now knows where Schwerzenbach is. And as far as I know there have never been any complaints from any of the people living here, never mind a petition or protest action. Now they have settled in, I have to admit Dignitas seems to be a very professional company.

'As a resident, you don't really notice what is happening. We estimate about 200 people a year will kill themselves there, but we won't notice anything if we don't have to register the deaths. We don't have any hotels. I gather that isn't a problem because Dignitas's customers usually arrive on the day and go straight to the company's offices.

'The only problem ever is that Dignitas doesn't advertise its presence - and a lot of people get lost and have to ask for directions. But there are 300 customers a day going to the brothel, so there is always someone around to ask.'