PLANS have been submitted for a £1.7m programme of works at a North-East burial ground.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is being asked to come up with 66 per cent of the £1,729,183 cost of the facelift for Linthorpe Cemetery, Middlesbrough.

However, it may be the autumn of next year before those behind the scheme - principally Middlesbrough Borough Council - get their answer.

The first burial in the cemetery's present form dates back to 1869, although the largest area of mature woodland in the town incorporates an earlier Quaker burial ground, dating back to 1668.

The southern boundary and land within the cemetery formed part of the medieval village of Linthorpe.

Plans for the cemetery include creating a paved performance area in the middle and the building of an education resource centre.

Two lodges would also be refurbished and brought into use, while a mortuary chapel would be converted into a museum and exhibition centre. New grave spaces would also be created.

Other ideas include appointing a cemetery workforce, monument, headstone and boundary repairs and improvements, and a contemporary baby memorial to the thousands of babies buried in unmarked graves.

An advisory board is to be created to oversee the realisation of the package of proposals for the cemetery, which has 50,000 graves of mixed denominations and will be designated a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.