Urgent crematorium repairs will see closures

Work to repair a crematorium's steeple and roof will see it closed for four days a week, a council has confirmed.

A £135,590 project has begun to stop water leaking into the chapel at Accrington Crematorium on Burnley Road.

The urgent work means it will be shut at weekends and two days a week until 15 October.

In authorising the work, Hyndburn Council waived its contract rules to award the work to Stone Central (NW) Ltd so the repairs can begin immediately.

In a report, cabinet member for sustainability Kate Walsh said the chapel was "suffering water ingress and requires urgent repairs to stonework, pointing and leadwork".

"The steeple has been pointed in the past with incorrect materials, which will need to be mechanically removed before new pointing can be done," she said.

She said the work would be "noisy and disruptive" but was "now considered urgent".

She added that "high demand for services and loss of income" meant solely working at weekends was considered, but that would have "far exceeded the budget and the work would have taken many months".

“Stone Central have provided a programme based on the revised scope of work... which can be delivered within an acceptable budget," she said.

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