THE county's first natural burial site is to be opened this autumn and Coleford Town Council are already taking bookings for plots.

The site at the lower end of the existing cemetery has been set aside as a wild flower meadow where people can have an eco-friendly burial.

In this type of natural burial everything which is buried can decompose. The coffin and the clothes are all made of natural fibres and no embalming fluids are used on the body.

The body is buried at 4ft instead of 6ft which means it breaks down much more quickly, leaving little impact on the environment.

Cemeteries across the district are filling up fast, but town clerk Annie Lappington said Coleford still has enough space for either type of burial.

There are between 280 to 300 plots available.

She said: "It is the first natural burial area in the county – up till now you had to go to Usk.

"I think people are becoming much more environmentally aware and that more and more people will chose this form of burial in the future.

"We still have spaces in the Cemetery but this means we can offer people a choice."

Local artist Tony Randall has created a wooden sign with a Forest theme to mark the site.