Temporary mortuaries in south-east England needed to cope with rising Covid deaths

Surrey hospital morgues now full, as Kent facility provides 950 spaces and extra London capacity being built

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Emergency plans have been triggered to keep bodies in temporary mortuaries in Kent and Surrey and a new temporary morgue is being built in London as a rising death toll from Covid begins to overwhelm storage facilities.

The leader of Kent county council, Roger Gough, said on Monday that a temporary structure on an industrial estate in Aylesford had been pressed into action for the first time this month as capacity filled up elsewhere in the hard-hit county.