WORK on extending a Three Towns cemetery is set to begin after a contract was awarded to a local firm.

Dalry-based W.I. & A. Gilbert Ltd have been awarded the contract for the High Road Cemetery in Stevenston.

Work is predicted to last until November to excavate and fill, install concrete foundation plinths, hard and soft landscaping and surface water drainage.

The cemetery was opened in 2012 and is one of three burial places in the town, along with the Hawkhill and New Street sites.

The works, with a value of around £450,000, are expected to provide North Ayrshire Council (NAC) with almost six years’ worth of extra capacity at the cemetery with burial plots and ashes plots.

Twenty-six of the 44 NAC-controlled cemeteries and churchyards are currently closed for new lairs but existing lairs can still be used.

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Last month, Irvine-based firm McLaughlin Construction said site preparation work had begun at Kilwinning Cemetery as another of North Ayrshire’s burial sites gets set for an upgrade.

A new pavilion building and double garage are planned at the site, along with 235 standard burial plots and 24 ashes plots.

The 42-week Kilwinning contract is said to be worth just over £1 million.

A council spokesperson said: “The extension of the cemetery at Stevenston is part of our long-term plans to ensure we have enough provision at our cemeteries across North Ayrshire in the years ahead.

“We currently expect work on this important programme of works to get under way later this month. Work is expected to take around four months to complete and will result in additional capacity of about 187 new burial plots and 36 ashes plots.”

New Street Cemetery was opened in 1861, while Hawkhill opened in 1930.