Contractors sought to repair Mansfield crematorium floor described as ‘significant safety issue’

The work, costing up to £25,000, comes as part of a wider £195,000 set of works to bring the Derby Road site up to scratch and address longstanding safety concerns.

The authority has authorised three quotes to be sought for the floor upgrade, with the winning bid to be accepted in the coming months.

It follows a meeting in May which heard a raft of improvements are needed to the site, including tackling leaks and water pressure issues, new fire doors, the removal of ducting, filling in holes and repairing walls.

This work is expected to cost about £30,000, with a further £40,000 is expected to be needed to prevent the cremator flue from funnelling smoke and fumes into the building. This work will see the refurbishment of vents for each cremator.

The mezzanine floor repair is newly approved for tender, with council papers previously stating existing, damaged floors pose a ‘significant health and safety issue’.

Once a contract is found for the floor repairs, the overall cost is expected to be funded through the crematorium’s capital budget.

Members of the Mansfield and District Crematorium Joint Committee, which includes councillors from Mansfield, Ashfield and Newark & Sherwood councils, have approved the works.

Coun Andy Burgin, Mansfield Council portfolio holder for environment and leisure, told a committee meeting in May: “The items all seem to be relating to health and safety issues and we have a duty of care to our staff to ensure they’re working in a safe environment.

“We need to ensure we’re following this duty of care and to press ahead and get these works done as soon as possible.”

Nada Colclough, crematorium and cemeteries manager, said: “This work is a necessity, just because of our environmental obligations and health and safety requirements.

“A lot of these works will be one-offs. Yes, they need to be serviced and maintained regularly, but the costs should be a one-off.

“All of this work results from a [previous] contract being terminated. They’re works we knew we needed to complete at some point and unfortunately, they are unavoidable.”