WORK has started on a new £900,000 funeral home in Stockton.

North Eastern and Cumbrian Co-op is converting the former Carlton Garage in Norton Road, which is due to open in September.

It will replace the Co-op's current premises in Dovecot Street, Stockton.

The home will become the headquarters for the Co-op's funeral business in the Stockton area, which includes units in the town's Durham Road and in Billingham.

Facilities will include four chapels of rest, a private interview room, a function suite and a display of monuments.

Neil Arnold, North Eastern and Cumbrian Co-op regional chief executive, said: "Within our funeral business we are committed to modernising our existing homes and to developing new branches."