Coronavirus: Cambridge hangar earmarked as temporary mortuary

Aircraft maintenance is a major part of the work carried out by the Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group engineers

An aviation company's hangar has been earmarked as a temporary mortuary to be used during the coronavirus pandemic.

Work will begin on Wednesday to convert the building at Marshall Aerospace and Defence in Cambridge for use "if existing provision is not sufficient".

Cambridgeshire County Council said it would only be used by funeral directors and "those looking after the site".

Council leader Steve Count said "while we hope we don't have to use [temporary mortuaries], we have to be ready".

Mr Count said : "We're grateful to Marshall Aerospace and Defence in playing their part in helping us deal with this emergency situation and we really appreciate them coming forward in this way."

The authority said there would be no public access or post-mortem activity on site.

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Other buildings being used as potential temporary mortuaries include Birmingham Airport, an ice rink in Milton Keynes and an agricultural showground in Stafford.

On Monday it was announced that the number of coronavirus hospital deaths in the UK had reached 5,373 and the Department of Health and Social Care said there were now 51,608 confirmed coronavirus cases.

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