DEVELOPMENT chiefs have pledged that a new crematorium would lower waiting times and provide a more accessible funeral service option.

Following three public exhibitions in Evesham, Pershore and Fladbury an application has now been submitted for a new Vale of Evesham crematorium by nationwide crematorium operator Westerleigh.

The new crematorium would mean families no longer having to travel for over thirty minutes to crematoria at Worcester, Redditch, Oakley Wood or Cheltenham.

Worcester Crematorium hosted 1,967 cremations in 2015 making it 33 percent busier than the average single-chapel crematorium in the UK and Redditch hosted 1,816 making it 23 percent busier than an average single-chapel crematorium.

Steve Bucknell, development director at Westerleigh Group said: "The new crematorium will provide a more accessible funeral service option for families throughout the Vale of Evesham and Pershore areas.

"There will also be much lower waiting times for funerals, particularly during the winter months when the death rate can be 40 percent higher."

The crematorium site would be in the parish of Fladbury, between Pershore and Evesham, in Wychavon District, just off the A44 at Fladbury Cross.

The new crematorium, which would host an average four funerals a day at intervals of one hour, could be open late next year.

Residents will now have the opportunity to comment on the application which has been registered on Wychavon District Council’s website.