PLANS for a £3 million crematorium in Radcliffe are finally becoming a reality as building work started on the site last week.

The Mayor of Bury, Councillor Jack Walton, performed the official sod-cutting ceremony to mark the start of the project.

The new building will be on land behind Radcliffe Cemetery and will provide the only facility of its kind in the borough.

It will be accompanied by landscaped gardens, an ornamental pond, and a garden of remembrance.

Work on the site is due to be completed by April next year and the crematorium will be operated by Memoria Limited.

Proposals for the development provoked a five-year campaign of opposition from residents in the Greenbank Road area when outline planning permission was granted in 1997.

Neighbours claimed that daily funeral processions near to family homes were "inappropriate" and were successful in having full permission refused in 2002.

However, the plans were later passed by councillors and were approved again last year when the earlier outline planning permission expired.

As well as the construction of a crematorium, improvements will be made to the existing cemetery, including road works, fencing works and street lighting.

Work to widen and improve Cemetery Road, leading to the site, was completed earlier in the summer.

Councillor John Byrne, executive member for environment and transport, said: "The new crematorium will be an excellent local facility for the residents of Bury. It will improve the choice of bereavement service available in Bury and will do away with the need to travel outside the borough for a cremation. Bury Council also welcomes the physical improvements that will be carried out to Radcliffe Cemetery as part of the crematorium works."

Bury Council's bereavement service is working closely with the main contractors to ensure minimal disruption during burial services in the cemetery by reducing or suspending building work.