MOVES to designate a cemetery as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) have received a major boost.
A botanical survey has been carried out at the Spion Kop Cemetery which overlooks the North Sea at Central Estate in Hartlepool.
Surveyor Chris Lowe, who was commissioned by the Friends of Spion Kop group, said: "The cemetery is a species-rich dune grassland and I don't know how far up or down the coast you would have to go to find something similar."
The cemetery dates back to the 1800s. More than 26,000 burials are known to have taken place there, although reports suggest there may have been thousands more.
Hartlepool Borough Council is working with the Friends of Spion Kop to improve and protect the site, and it is hoped it will soon become the town's sixth LNR.
Joe Davies, the council's LNR officer, said: "The botanical survey has confirmed what we already believed to be the case, that the Spion Kop Cemetery is definitely a site worthy of protection.
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