Burial grounds act 'cumbersome'

A council has raised concerns about 155-year-old procedures it must follow to gain permission to extend graveyards.

Highland Council has told the Scottish government that the Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act 1855 was "cumbersome and expensive".

There are at least four different stages to the process.

The council's call for the act to be updated comes as it seeks to extend Mitchell Hill at Dingwall.

The extension to the burial ground stretches to about 1.76 acres (0.71 hectares).

Procedures include a document signed by two councillors seeking a special meeting to determine whether a graveyard should be extended.

Councillors vote on the matter at the meeting, before a sheriff is asked to designate the land as burial ground.