A LAND deal has been clinched which will provide Bromyard with enough burial space for the next 10 to 15 years.

The town's joint burial committee has acquired the land to extend the Church Road cemetery to the railway embankment.

Former chairman Jonathan Lester confirmed that the committee had bought the quarter-acre site for £1 from Herefordshire Council.

He said: "It's just a formality to hand over the deeds now and we're in the process of obtaining quotes to clear the ground because it's all overgrown.

"Once that's done, we've got to level it and put in a path, fence and boundaries which will probably take six months to a year. Buying that piece of land was probably a lot more drawn out and complicated than we envisaged but I am pleased to see that it's nearly dealt with.

"I would like to thank the committee and secretary for all their hard work considering it serves such a necessary function for the community."

The extension should serve the communities of Bromyard and Brockhampton with burial space for at least another 10 to 15 years.

At Bromyard and Winslow Town Council last week, Coun Judy Wooland broached the subject of dealing with any future problems in obtaining land by suggesting that instead of burying people, a "beautiful meadow" be created where mourners could spread the ashes of their loved ones.

She also suggested that letting the cemetery go "wild" could reduce maintenance costs.

"In some places people have beautiful wild churchyards and they're enchanting," she Coun Wooland.