A battle is on to create more room at a village cemetery, which will soon not have enough space to take any more burials.

Caister Village Cemetery, which is owned by the parish council, is said to have only five more spaces, and soon people might have to start looking at more expensive and distant burial locations for their loved ones.

The East and West Caister Joint Burial Board are looking to get permission to remove tombstones and memorials from the southern end of the western section of the site.

The tombstones and memorials will be re-erected around the southern and western boundaries of the site.

This would free up more room for further burials, but to do this, the burial board would need approval from the Diocese of Norwich.

A spokesperson for the Parochial Church Council (PCC), said: “There are around five spaces left and with more burials planned over the upcoming days, this has left us in the tenuous position where soon there will be no more room.

“If there are no spaces then families will have to choose the more expensive borough council cemetery option, or have the burials done in Great Yarmouth or other places further from home.

“It is a shame as residents of the village will want their loved ones to be buried in a cemetery in their village.”

The Caister Village Cemetery is located by the Holy Trinity Church, on Norwich Road, and is exclusive to residents who have lived in Caister for five years or more, or for those who have lived in a care home in the area.

Caister Parish Council chairman, Tony Baker, said that prices for burial costs vary, but for a standard single person it is £160, with additional costs for exclusivity.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s website, states that burials for a person aged 12 or above, comes to £575 a body, with further costs for exclusivity, or free for those under 12.

Mr Baker, who is also vice chairman of the village’s burial board, said: “It is a standard procedure where we move graves sites that are 100 years or older, to make room for further burials which would be done on top of those burials from 100 years ago.

“In these situations we do our best to contact the relatives and see whether they have any objections and give them a chance to put their point across.

“It is a fairly lengthy legal issue which I have been brought in to deal with as my role as chairman of the parish council, and it is something we need to get permission off from the Diocese of Norwich.”