A TOTAL of £750,000 is being spent on Yeovil Crematorium to make it more environmentally friendly.

South Somerset District Council owns the crematorium on Bunford Lane, which handles a significant number of funerals from across the district.

The council has been undertaking work to refurbish the facility, approving plans for more parking and a second chapel on site for mourners.

Now it has committed to ensuring it complies with the highest environmental standards as part of a wider strategy to combat climate change.

Details of the council’s work on the crematorium was published ahead of a meeting of its scrutiny committee in Yeovil on Tuesday morning (October 1), as part of a wider report on its environmental strategy.

The report said: “The council is investing £750,000 in the Yeovil Crematorium to ensure compliance with environmental standards.

“The new cremators at Yeovil Crematorium are designed such that the emissions from mercury fillings will be captured by abatement plant, along with particulate and other emissions.”

The council’s area south committee – which handles planning applications affecting Yeovil and the surrounding villages – voted in June 2018 for an overflow car park to be constructed at the crematorium to allow more mourners to attend services.

It subsequently voted in October 2018 to modify the layout of the existing building to allow for a second chapel to be built, thereby increasing the number of services which can be held there.

A confidential update on the refurbishment of the crematorium was discussed by the full council on September 19 – the details of which have not been made public due to commercial sensitivity.