NEW ROMNEY NEWS

Two years after buying land for a new burial ground for New Romney, councillors have been told that it might not now be suitable for burials.

The council spent £32,000 on buying the land in Church Road with the aim of turning it into a cemetery. But there has been opposition to the scheme, and now the Environment Agency says it could contaminate local drainage ditches and a pond.

The land is currently being used for grazing, which brings in around £240 a year. But the only digging that could take place on the site is by archaeologists who would be interested in finding out if the ground contains any evidence of previous life in the town.

It might, however, be possible for the land to be used for the burial of ashes and as a garden of remembrance.