A site at the far end of Driffield Cemetery, on Bridlington Road has been earmarked by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council for green burials which could see people being buried in bio-degradable coffins, shrouds or body bags, as exclusively revealed in the Driffield Post on July 4.

According to a report presented to cabinet yesterday ‘green burials are a sustainable burial option with a minimal environmental impact. They are an additional option to the more formal burial choices of lawned graves and gardens of rest for cremated remains’.

The report also states that ‘once full, a burial ground essentially has no other use and will gradually be visited less and less’ but green burial sites can be re-used as public open spaces.

The report recommends that ‘burials within the site not be marked with memorials and the area left as natural as possible’.

A brass plaque can be added to an existing tree at the edge of the site or a memorial bench with an inscription would be installed if requested. Graves will be marked using buried micro-chips containing personal information, which can be read by a hand-held scanner and detailed plans would also be kept on site. The green burial site at Driffield will be kept as a semi-fallow meadow with the grass cut two or three times a year to allow wildlife to settle in. As the site will require less maintenance the council are proposing a 20 per cent reduction off normal burial fees.

If the pilot scheme at Driffield attracts enough interest it could be extended to Anlaby Cemetery and Queensgate Cemetery, Beverley. The UK’s first green burial site opened in Carlisle Cemetery in 1994 and there are now more than 200 sites nationwide.