Council spends £1.1m to improve "unpopular" cemetery near Cottingham with woodland walk and pet burial space

People looking for a burial plot at the Priory Road cemetery at Cottingham, near Hull, were put off in the past because it "frequently flooded and was unusable."

However a new drainage system put in last November has already improved the situation, according to Hull Council officials.

They are hoping a second phase of work starting this month, including extending the visitor centre, installing extra car parking and adding a memorial and a peace garden, will also help.

Only around 250 people have been buried in the cemetery since it opened 11 years ago.

But now space is running out at Northern Cemetery, with council officials saying it could be full within the next 12 months.

Hull Council has appointed contractors Geo Houlton & Sons to start the second phase of work.

Lisa Buttery, head of customer service at Hull Council, said the aim was to make it a "really peaceful, tranquil" space, which was used both as an open space and cemetery serving Hull and surrounding residents. The extension to the visitor centre should be ready in April and there would be a member of staff on hand to talk to people.

She said: "We had a lot of surface water and so it wasn't draining away. The new drainage system has really improved that and we can see the benefits already.

"The approach is about it being a really peaceful, tranquil open space."

In a council decision record Councillor Rosie Nicola said the work needed to be done as soon as possible.

She said: "It is essential that we undertake phase two of this project if the city is to have sufficient burial plots to the west of Hull. Without these works we face the possibility in the near future of having no further burial capacity available in North and Western Cemeteries and we must take these steps to remedy this situation as quickly as possible."