PLANS to refrigerate dead bodies for up to 48 hours before cremating them were approved on Monday despite being branded “morally unacceptable”.

Five councillors on Salisbury City Council’s services committee were outraged by proposals for a cold storage facility to be installed as part of the £2.34million refurbishment of Salisbury’s crematorium.

Councillors Jo Broom and Brian Dalton said it would be insensitive to bereaved families and cllr Bobbie Chettleburgh said nobody wants to think that their mother is being kept in the freezer “next to the frozen peas”.

The council’s officers suggested the cold storage to save money because in the summer between May and September they will often only have one or two cremations in a day.

City clerk Reg Williams said: “By far the most expensive part of the crematorium is firing up the cremators. If we only have one or two a day, that’s an extremely expensive and poor use of them. We would make sure families are very aware that the crematorium operates in that way and if they are vehemently opposed they can make alternative arrangements.”

Mr Williams said cold storage is quite commonplace now and most modern crematoriums have the units.

Cllr Frank Pennycook said: “I think we need to remember that bodies are kept in storage after death already – in the hospital morgue and at the undertakers. If I died and my body was the only one at the crematorium that day I’d want them to store it until they had more. If we don’t allow it then you’re denying people like me that choice.”

Cllr John Collier said the storage is a spend-to-save measure that is good for the environment and the economy, as long as it’s operating on the understanding that each individual bereaved family is given the choice.

The plan was approved, with ten councillors voting in favour and five against. They also asked for a code of conduct for its use to be brought back to the council for approval.

• An extraordinary meeting of the full council before the services committee meeting agreed to borrow more money from the Public Works Loans Board for the crematorium project to cover £390,000 in VAT, which they recently discovered they would not be able to claim back.

But councillors also agreed they should look into whether other projects could be delayed or cut back to cover the extra cost.