COUNCIL bosses have drawn up plans to expand Blackburn’s main cemetery to avoid a burial crisis.

Pleasington Cemetery has just four years’ capacity left for Church of England burials, with space for some other religions also running low.

Town hall chiefs are confident that council-owned land currently used by a nearby farmer can be developed to accommodate burials for the next 10 years.

However, it depends on the Environment Agency assessing the site for risk of flooding.

Peter Hunt, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s director responsible for cemeteries, said there was room at Pleasington for another two-and-a-half years of Church of England burials.

Work to extend another part of the site will bring that up to four years, including extra capacity for other religions.

But after that bosses will have to use farming land to the east of the cemetery, offering 10 years’ capacity.

Mr Hunt said: “We have asked the Environment Agency to look at it but they have not come back to us yet.

“They may come back to us and say it is only suitable for single burials, which is fine for Muslims but not for Christian burials.

“If it’s a problem, we will have to find other land. We own a lot round there so there’s no shortage.

“There’s no emergency in Blackburn with Darwen but we have got to plan ahead.”

Mr Hunt said a planning application for the current farming land was being drafted and work could start after next April.

If approved, it would provide 10 years’ capacity for Pleasington.

However, Tory councillor Alan Cottam, who was in charge of cemeteries until Labour regained power last month, said he had been told the land was not suitable for burials.

He urged council chiefs to plan for the next 20 years instead of just for the next decade.

Meanwhile, Darwen’s old and eastern cemeteries have 15 years’ capacity for all religions, according to Mr Hunt.