West Country councils setting up temporary morgues as Covid-19 death toll rises

Councils across the West Country are setting up temporary morgues to store dead bodies in the event of a continued rise in Covid-19 deaths.

Local authorities including Plymouth City Council, Cornwall Council and Wiltshire Council have already started building such facilities, while other areas are drawing up contingency plans.

Plymouth's Agaton Fort, a former Ministry of Defence site now owned by the council, will serve as a makeshift mortuary 'to cope with additional pressure' on cemeteries and crematoria.

But some local residents are not happy that it is so close to their homes.

Sally Haydon, Plymouth City Council's cabinet member for community safety, said strict hygiene rules will be followed at all times and the site will not pose a danger to the public.

Elsewhere in the region, Wiltshire Council is leading a project to set up temperature-controlled storage facilities at Great Western Hospital and Salisbury District Hospital.

The sites will be protected by private security guards, with support from Wiltshire Police.

More than a dozen of the latest coronavirus victims had no pre-existing health conditions, NHS says

Photos show progress as ExCel Centre is converted into a coronavirus hospital

The UK has recorded more than 1,200 coronavirus-related deaths, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Cornwall Council says it is anticipating a 'significant number of deaths' in the county and is making plans for a temporary mortuary.