ABOUT £10m is to be spent improving cemeteries and crematoria across Kirklees, council bosses have revealed.

Plans include replacing Dewsbury crematorium with a state of the art facility and a major renovation of Huddersfield crematorium.

And plans to tender bereavement services to outside firms have now been ruled out.

The news also follows a report earlier this week that Huddersfield is running out of burial plots.

Fewer than 200 spaces are available in the existing cemeteries, and the council is hoping to open a new 2,000-plot cemetery at Fenay Bridge.

Council leader Robert Light said: “There has been a lack of investment in cemeteries and crematoria for many years. This is being addressed.

“What we are looking at initially is a five-year £10m capital programme, and the extra investment needed will be examined as part of the budget considerations in the coming months.”

Clr Light said: “The previous Cabinet decided two years ago to look at entering into a joint venture partnership to run the council’s bereavement services.

“That has gone through a tendering process which produced three interesting bids.

He added: “After careful examination however these were not felt to offer more than was available from a modernised in-house service.

“The Cabinet has decided that the way forward to improve and modernise our bereavement services is to develop and implement the programme in-house and in consultation with the local funeral directors who form part of the bereavement services partnership.

“This will include management of services, improved ground maintenance of cemetery and crematoria, the massive investment needed to upgrade Huddersfield crematorium, replacing Dewsbury crematorium with a state of the art facility, improvements to buildings and grounds, providing new and improved services over longer hours and introducing choice to families.

“We also intend to ensure that our new facilities and services are as environmentally friendly as possible.

“Our aim is to provide sensitive and caring services by way of modern facilities, in a peaceful and welcoming setting and grounds.

“Major investment in bereavement services is needed to bring services up to the standard that we want and which bereaved families have every right to expect.”

Work to ease access to Huddersfield’s Crematorium will start early next year.

A £100,000 scheme will lead to much-improved access to the crematorium, off Fixby Road, Fixby.

The crematorium drive is narrow and there are long-standing problems with congestion during funerals.