After four decades of searching, a local town council has managed to buy land to extend its cemetery and ensure that locals can be laid to rest in the town for the next 100 years.

The cemetery on Thornton Road, Milford Haven, is the responsibility of Milford Haven Town Council and favours local residents.

People who want to be buried in the graveyard who did not live within the six wards of Milford Haven have to pay 50 per cent more than locals and rates are doubled if the deceased lived outside of Wales.

The new land is adjacent to the old cemetery and has been found following a 40-year search.

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Last year the council was able to use Welsh Government money to undertake several surveys to ensure that the land was suitable to act as a final resting place.

After confirmation that it was, the council was able to apply for more Welsh Government funding to buy the land.

There now follows a process of preparing it to be used as a cemetery which will take between two and three years.

Councillor Colin Sharp. chair of the council’s cemetery land and acquisition group said that the new land would hopefully provide enough burial space for the next 100 years.

The current cemetery has enough space for the next two or three years until the current land is ready.

“It is truly assuring that the town council has been able to secure additional land to expand the cemetery for our town for many decades to come,” said deputy mayor, Councillor William Elliott.

“The work undertaken by the town clerk and the town council, has been testament to the drive needed in what has been a long process in surveying and testing the land for suitability.”

He thanked Mr Sharp and town clerk Barbara Fitzgerald, for being ‘the true driving force behind this success’.

Mr Sharp added: “After many years of searching for suitable land for future burials, it is reassuring now that Milford Haven Town Council has purchased land adjacent to the current cemetery.

“It has not been an easy progress making sure the land was suitable, but we can now guarantee burials in Milford Haven for many years to come.

“My thanks go out to the past landowner for his patience as we undertook extensive tests on the land; the town clerk for all her hard work on purchasing the land, and all the town councillors for their constant support.

“We are now one step nearer to carrying on with burials in Milford Haven.”