A SEARCH is being carried out in a bid to find unused grave space across the district.

Braintree Council officers are currently on the hunt for extra burial space at Braintree Cemetery in London Road.

So far they have found an extra 107 full burial plots and an extra 29 cremated remains graves.

The search is not complete yet but those plots alone are expected to extend the life of the cemetery by up to three years.

Officers have now moved onto Halstead and will then visit the cemeteries in Witham and Bocking to ensure the most is being made of space at each site.

A spokesman for Braintree Council said: “We have extensive burial records for our cemeteries that go back to the 1850s and when reviewing some of the older records at Braintree Cemetery, we identified some graves and cremated remains areas that were found to be unallocated and are available for future use.

"We plan to carry out a similar exercise at our other three cemeteries in Witham, Bocking and Halstead to ensure that we make full use of all available grave space."