WORK on a new multi million pound crematorium for the North East is to get under way.

The facility, plus associated landscaped memorial gardens, has been designed by Naru and Ross Architects, on behalf of Dignity Plc, one of the largest providers of funeral services in the UK.

With planning permission granted by Durham County Council, the crematorium will be situated on arable land close to a former brewery at Castle Eden in East Durham, just off the A19.

The £2.5m project, due to be completed in 2019, will provide a low-level, green-roofed sandstone crematorium building with a link to a separate new-build chapel. Both buildings will be concealed by landscaping.