New plans for work at Wolverhampton’s Bushbury Crematorium were unveiled today.

The move is part of a larger project to expand the site and carry out other work such as the replacement of four cremators.

The crematorium is the second busiest in the region, with 2,500 services annually, and it is hoped the latest project will include improvements to the mezzanine level of the building.

Plans have been submitted to Wolverhampton City Council requesting permission for the work which includes putting up new chiller units, installing a staircase outside as well as putting in mezzanine floor space and improved toilets.

Adam Clelland, Wolverhampton City Council’s senior bereavement services officer, said: “The planning applications relate to the ongoing work to install four new cremators and abatement equipment at Bushbury Crematorium.

“Some of the existing mezzanine floor, on the upper level of the building, needs to be extended and improved, while an external staircase is needed to access the mezzanine level.

“There is an internal ‘cat ladder’ which leads to the mezzanine level, but due to health and safety considerations alternative access needs to be installed, and this will lead from the yard outside to a doorway on the upper level.

“A planning application has also been submitted to improve the staff toilet facilities at Bushbury Crematorium, while special fans, known as chillers, are needed in order to cool the gases before they go through the abatement system. They will be installed on the roof.”

Council chiefs are also planning to increase the size of the cemetery on the site by one third, they say the expansion is desperately needed because of a falling amount of burial space in the city.

Preparations including landscaping and some initial planting for the 15-acre extension has already started with the main part of the work set to get under way next year.

Of the extension, around four acres will be used for “natural” burials, approximately 3,400 plots, while five acres will be available for conventional burials, around 4,700 plots. The remaining land contains areas where trees will be planted and a bridle path diverted. The council will be extending the site southwards into two adjacent fields used for grazing cattle. The fields run from Underhill Lane in the east towards a ridge running along the top of Bushbury Hill to the west.

It proposes to use the lower field, at the foot of Bushbury Hill and next to Underhill Lane, for conventional burials with memorial headstones.

The upper field will be used for the “natural” burials where graves will be recorded but not marked by a formal stone memorial.

The site has been targeted by metal thieves in a spate of attacks in recent months. Council chiefs are now looking to replace copper sheeting on the roof.