THE Foulon Cemetery will be full within 10 years, the Treasury and Resources Department has warned.

And attempts to purchase land to extend it have failed. Deputy Treasury minister and property services subcommittee chairman Jack Honeybill said the problem had to be dealt with now.

‘We have to address the long-term future of the Foulon and look strategically at burial space in Guernsey,’ he said, adding that the increased charges were a first step towards this.

He said the rises had been carefully thought through and the department had undertaken extensive consultation.

Last year there were 298 cremations at the Foulon – the fewest in any of the British Isles’ 250-plus crematoria, according to the Treasury.

The number of cremations is falling in Guernsey, but rising in the UK. More than 70% of people are cremated in the UK while the latest Guernsey figure is 57%.