THE cost of burial plots for the cremated remains of Swindon loved ones will rocket by 73 per cent next year, to help fund a £2.8m refurbishment of Kingsdown Crematorium.

The use of the crematorium chapel for memorial services will also increase by 67 per cent, from £90 to £150, while three new “fee-paying areas” will be introduced.

Swindon Council has defended the price hikes, saying they will bring Swindon in line with other authorities and help pay for much needed improvements to the crematorium.

Deputy council leader Coun Fionuala Foley said: “In an ideal world we would not want to increase any charges but I think people would be willing to pay a little bit more to pay for these improvements that are desperately needed.”

As part of the refurbishment the chapel will be expanded, public waiting areas will be improved and the lay-out of the site modified to give mourners more privacy.

The second phase will see the cremators replaced and mercury removed to ensure the site meets its target of stopping mercury emissions by 2013.

Coun Foley said as well as the price hikes money would have to be borrowed to meet the £2.8m costs.

Charges set to rise include the £80 increase, from £110 to £190, for a burial plot for cremated remains, a 78 per cent hike, from £28 to £50, for the use of an organ at a cremation for a stillborn or child up to the age of 15, although there is no charge for the actual service.

There are also plans for three new “fee paying areas”, although Coun Foley said she did not know how these would work.

She said: “Possibly we should have been more sensible in increasing prices incrementally but you will find that we are now on the same level as most authorities.

“We need to improve the crematorium.

“Our staff are fantastic but these improvements will give us more space and mean that mourners aren’t bumping into each other.

“I think most people would say that is worth paying for.”

Coun Foley said she did not envisage more increases in crematorium charges in the 2011/12 budget.