WORK has started to extend a cemetery to create much-needed extra burial space.

Pelton Cemetery, near Chester-le-Street, is being extended onto a plot of land behind the existing burial ground.

Work to enlarge the Front Street cemetery, which is owned by Durham County Council, is expected to take ten weeks to complete.

The move comes as Ropery Lane Cemetery in Chester-le-Street has reached its capacity for new burials, although existing family grave plots can still be used.

New memorial beams are being installed in the ground at Pelton Cemetery ready to connect to headstones.

A new gateway entrance, roadways and footpaths are also under construction to allow easy access to burial areas.

The start of work on the extension was marked by Cllr Maria Plews, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for leisure, libraries and lifelong learning, and bereavement services manager and registrar Graham Harrison.

Cllr Plews said: “It was an absolute pleasure to be able to officially mark the beginning of work on the extension of Pelton Cemetery.

“This new facility will provide increased burial provision for the area and everlasting memorial options to remember loved ones.”