AGE CONCERN has branded proposals to double charges for burial plots in a cemetery fast running out of space as excessive.

George Waugh, chief officer of Age Concern Malvern and District said Malvern town council's plan for its cemetery would worry older people and would not solve the problem.

He said he knew of a woman in the area who was still paying for her mother's funeral four years on.

The proposal would see charges to reserve and buy a plot at the town's cemetery, off Madresfield Road, shoot from £360 to £720.

The option is one of several the council is considering to tackle space constraints.

Mr Waugh said: "Doubling the price is excessive, especially in today's financial climate where we're trying to improve the situation for elderly people, and not compound it.

"They're not going to stop people dying and by doubling the cost they're not going to stop them needing to be buried."

The local authority is looking for an alternative site for the allotments on Madres-field Road to create space to extend the cemetery.

But Mr Waugh said he would also be concerned about allotment space being lost as this would also affect elderly residents who owned plots there.

Other options the council is considering include barring non-residents from buying plots until the cemetery extension is complete, introducing a temporary ban, or withdrawing the opportunity for people to buy and reserve plots.

There are approximately 210 plots left unreserved but it is estimated the cemetery will have 18 months until the council will have to refuse burials.

The council's operations committee is due to discuss the plans at its Belle Vue Terrace office tonight.