Hospitals with overflowing morgues are having to store corpses in temporary mortuaries.
The grim make-shift areas, made up of huge containers capable of holding dozens of people’s remains, are being installed in areas such as business parks.
Vehicles from hospitals, including Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire, and Royal Liverpool Hospital, were seen dropping off dead bodies at the sites, the Sun reported.
The extra capacity is guarded 24/7, families will be relieved to discover.
Last week a refrigeration unit in a grey container arrived at High Post Salt Store near Salisbury while in Liverpool two have been set up nearby.
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust confirmed the move owing to an “increase in need across the community”.
Joyce Robins, founder of Patient Concern, told the publication: “It’s all very disappointing. It’s the sort of thing that should be planned for.
“Putting them in a gritting yard makes it look like we just don’t care about these people when they die. It’s terribly sad for the families.
“A bit of respect is what we need.”
The scenes are throwbacks to the early days of the pandemic when temporary morgues were built in the likes of disused military bases capable of holding 5,000 remains.
Two hangars at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire were among those converted and included smaller shelves to accommodate the bodies of children, according to a worker at the time.
Another temporary structure built in March 2020 when the country’s death toll was around 100 was built in Westminster.
A spokesman for Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust said: “We can confirm that we have opened additional mortuary capacity to accommodate an increase in need across the local community.
“Our mortuary service operates to the national standards treating the deceased and loved ones with dignity and respect at all times regardless of location.
“All our additional capacity provides privacy and has 24/7 security.”
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Liverpool Hospital, added: “It is common practice for mortuaries to have purpose-built temporary systems available.
"This ensures that patients continue to be treated with dignity and respect, in facilities which are equivalent to a permanent mortuary, during periods of increased demand.
"Two of these systems, which meet standards set out by the Human Tissue Authority, have been deployed at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.”
