A temporary mortuary set up as Bath prepared for the worst during the coronavirus crisis has not been used.
Haycombe Cemetery and Crematorium | Photo © ColinPeachey / Shutterstock.com
The makeshift resting place was created in Haycombe Cemetery in April to provide extra capacity to funeral directors and the Royal United Hospital.
Bath and North East Somerset Council this week confirmed it will remain in place until next March.
Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for community services said: “Thankfully, we have not had to use the temporary mortuary at Haycombe Cemetery and Crematorium.
“However, the facility will remain in place through the winter until March next year.”
Bristol’s temporary mortuary has also not been used.
The city council said it would remain in place for six months because the cost of dismantling and reassembling is the same as keeping it.
South Gloucestershire Council’s overflow mortuary at its Broad Lane depot in Yate stored up to 18 bodies at a time when it was operational during the Covid-19 peak from April to July.
It was required when the number of deaths locally overwhelmed capacity at funeral directors, although noone taken there were victims of the pandemic.
Stephen Sumner, Local Democracy Reporter
