BURIAL space in Swindon will be available in Swindon for at least the next decade, the council has confirmed.

Fears were raised this week when public health expert Professor John Ashton suggested creating green burial corridors next to major transport routes to increase grave capacity.

Around 500,000 people die each year in England and Wales, with around 70 per cent being cremated.

A spokesperson for the Swindon Borough Council said: “According to our best estimates we have approximately 1,200 burial spaces remaining at Kingsdown Cemetery.

“Over the past year we have done on average nine full burials per month there, so on this basis, the remaining space would last just over 11 years.

“Future provision of burial land will be considered by the council in the next couple of years to ensure we have plan that takes us beyond 2030.

“As we don’t have the same land pressures it is unlikely we will be looking at the options suggested.”

Despite having enough space, some people are already looking to green funerals in order to both reduce the need for space and help the environment.

Westmill Woodland Burial Ground manager Jan Power said: “Green burial grounds have a much less damaging effect on the environment than other funeral options.

"There is no harmful pollution going into the air and no massive excess of energy use as there is with cremation.

“All coffins are biodegradable and we restrict the use of toxic preservation chemicals.

Prof Ashton had said: “The Victorians had to cope with large numbers of people needing their bodies dealing with and churchyards became full, and they responded by passing an act of parliament that required local authorities to set up municipal cemeteries everywhere.

“It’s round two of that now, because the cemeteries are destined to be full in the next five or six years.”