THE installation of new ovens at Burnley Crematorium is set to start in the next few weeks.

Councillors are set to approve spending £855,000 on new cremators, and the installation of mercury abatement equipment, at a meeting next week.

The work to the ovens, which have not been replaced at the Rossendale Road crematorium since 1995, is taking place to reduce the amount of mercury released into the atmosphere.

Mercury is found in amalgam teeth fillings.

All three cremators will be replaced, as well as some of the equipment at the site. Work is set to last until October, but council chiefs said there would be no disruption to services.

A council spokesman said: “All three cremators are being replaced, but we have been running just two of the cremators for the past few months and there will be no disruption to services.

“When the work is complete we will be back to operating three cremators.”

The Government had set a deadline of 2012 for crematoriums to reduce the amount of mercury released into the atmosphere.

Simon Goff, head of green spaces and amenities at the council, said: “The regulations now require cremation author-ities to deal with emissions of mercury, which are the result of the amalgam used in people’s fillings in their teeth.

“The mercury is emitted from the crematorium in exhaust gases, and is deposited in water bodies, such as rivers and lakes, in the area.

“They do not cause an immediate pollution problem in the locality, but there can be a build up of mercury in waterways which can affect fish and aquatic life.”

Council bosses have signed a deal with Leeds-based firm Facultatieve Technologies to oversee the work.

Preliminary work at the site to prepare for the project has already taken place.