³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

A new cemetery costing almost £1m has opened in Flintshire to address an "urgent need" for local burial space.

The cemetery on Kelsterton Lane in Connah's Quay is expected to provide enough space for the next 60 to 80 years.

Councils across the UK are attempting to provide more burial plots as cemeteries reach capacity.

Councillor Helen Yale said the existing cemetery in Connah's Quay was down to "the last few available plots".

"The lack of burial space is becoming more and more of a national problem, because of the need for land," she said.

"Here in Connah's Quay, our existing cemetery, at Bryn Road, is down to the last few available plots, so we had an urgent need locally."

The new cemetery includes a walled garden of remembrance in response to feedback at the county's other 14 cemeteries.

People will be able to buy memorial marble plaques with simple inscriptions on three sides of the garden.

It is hoped that plans for a visitor centre and a sexton's hut on the cemetery grounds will be put forward some time in the future.

Flintshire council, which is responsible for about 400 burials and interments each year, said residents had already been making inquiries about reserving cemetery plots.

Many councils across the country are looking to increase the number of burial plots available.

Nearby Denbighshire council said earlier this year it was unlikely to be able to build a new cemetery in the current financial climate.

The county estimates it has on average 25 years capacity across the seven cemeteries in the area.