- LONDON (Reuters) - Rapidly
running out of burial space, authorities in England and Wales are contemplating
digging up the dead to make room for more.
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- Extra space may be created in packed cemeteries by exhuming
remains and re-using old plots following a review of antiquated burial
laws launched on Thursday.
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- One option under review is the exhumation and reburial
of bodies in deeper graves to allow coffins to be laid on top, a method
known as "lift and deepen".
-
- Alternatively, ancient remains may be moved to more distant
sites so that the newly dead can be buried closer to their homes.
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- "The public must have a realistic choice in the
funeral arrangements for their relatives and cemeteries must be well managed
and accessible," Home Office Minister Paul Goggins said in a statement.
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- Faith groups, industry representatives and the public
have been invited to air their views on burial procedures as part of the
review of burial law, which could put paid to the notion that graves should
remain undisturbed for all time.
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- The government review suggests allowing remains to be
disturbed 100 years after burial.
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