PLANNING officers have granted permission for Wiltshire Council to use part of a playing field to extend Melksham Cemetery.
The application to make space for 219 extra burial plots was made in August when it emerged that the remaining cemetery space could be filled by the end of the year.
Permission has been granted to use part of the land next to the Melksham House rugby ground, on the condition that there are no more than an average of 27 coffin burials per year.
The changes to the cemetery beside Western Way will see a stretch of the existing wall demolished and another built, so that the graveyard would incorporate part of the playing fields.
A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said, “The planned work will extend the cemetery’s use for the next few years. We are in the process of considering the available options for the town beyond this period.”
