VILLAGERS forced to bury their relatives in a neighbouring community's cemetery have asked for segregation.

The cemetery in Winston recently ran out of burial space, and despite thorough searches, the parish council failed to find any land available for a new cemetery in the village.

It applied to Teesdale District Council for permission to use the cemetery at nearby Gainford, which has space for burials for at least 50 years. But the parish council requested segregation from the graves of people from Gainford.

Teesdale District Council's community services committee agreed.

Councillor Madeleine Walton said: "If this is what people want, and we can afford it, then we should go along with it. I think people should be buried where they want."

Members agreed that Winston and Gainford residents would be buried in the same rows, but at separate ends.