Corsham's cemetery in Ladbrook Lane could remain open for another 15 years, after the council agreed to increase the space available for burials.

The council had been in discussions with a local landowner about buying extra space next to the cemetery but talks broke down in September, raising fears the town would run out of burial space.

At a meeting of the amenities committee last Wednesday, the council agreed to focus attention within the current site, while not ruling out further extensions in the future.

Town clerk David Martin said: “They agreed to do some work to optimise the amount of land available at the cemetery.

“There is an area at the end where all the spoils of the grave-digging are kept, which hasn’t been cleared for years. We are going to move all that to create more space, which should keep the cemetery open for about 15 years, which should give us more time for something more permanent.

“We are not actively looking for more land, but we are still open for discussion with landowners.

“We will have to look at the way it’s laid out to make more space available, as we want to get as many spaces as we can without everything compacting in, but we won’t be accepting any additional memorial benches or trees.”