A NEW £2.5 million Herefordshire crematorium will stop coffins having to go as far away as London for a final send-off.

Provision for the new crematorium at Hereford's Westfaling Street cemetery is among Herefordshire Council's spending priorities for the coming year.

Another is extending burial space at the cemetery, now so tight that many families are paying to pre-book plots on 50-year limits.

Built in the 1950s, the county's current crematorium and chapel is now too small for most of the 1,350 cremations expected each year. With room for just 60 people, many mourners are often left standing outside in all weathers as services are relayed over a tannoy.

The two cremators cannot cope with larger coffins, some of which have had to be sent as far away as London, said David Ravenscroft, client services manager for Herefordshire Council.

Cremations far outstrip burials in Herefordshire, with staff booking around 11 such services each weekday and the 'odd couple' on a Saturday morning, said Mr Ravenscroft.

The new crematorium chapel - to be built near its predecessor - will take 120 mourners and have facilities such as disabled access and toilets to match.

The crematorium would have a third cremator and an environmentally-friendly filtration system, removing mercury and other toxins from emissions.

All told, the new facilities will cost £2,455,000. Some of the cost will be offset by a surcharge on cremations that should generate around £60,000 annually. Borrowing from various funding sources will account for the rest.

The current crematorium will continue to operate as its successor is built.

There will be a separate bid to extend grave space at the 26-acre Westfaling Street cemetery - in use since the 1800s - where there is only enough room for another two years of burials.

Extending that space to an earmarked field will offer another six to eight years, but beyond that there is little scope for the 150 burials expected each year.

The reusing of graves was thought unlikely given the depths to which most of the Westfaling Street graves have been dug.

Re-use risked disturbing remains, said Mr Ravenscroft.

Hereford funeral director David Bayley said he and his fellow funeral directors would 'broadly welcome' a new crematorium, as all were well aware of the present facility's limitations.

But a larger crematorium might, said Mr Bayley, see fewer funeral services in churches. Families often opted for a full service in church and a more close-knit committal service at the crematorium.