Dead bodies are being stored at a grit depot in Wiltshire after the local hospital hit its capacity.
Security guards will monitor the High Post Salt Store, off the A345 near Salisbury, day and night as deceased people are held there.
The bodies have been transferred from Salisbury District Hospital, which is struggling to cope with additional pressures on its morgue this winter.
Wiltshire 999s understands that more than 20 bodies are currently on site, stored in white portable refrigerated shipping containers.
Wiltshire Council leader Richard Clewer said the hospital is dealing with a “period of extreme pressure” and confirmed that staff at the site are trained to “behave respectfully and sensitively”.
“We are supporting our partners at Salisbury District Hospital during this period of extreme pressure for the NHS”, he said.
Adding: “The site at High Post is private and is an appropriate location to provide this facility, and it is guarded by security at all times.
“Our staff are specially trained to work in a professional and proper manner, and behave respectfully and sensitively at all times.”
It is estimated around 4,000 more Britons died than usual towards the end of the year – with a combination of flu, Covid and hospital and ambulance delays all blamed.
Some sites across the UK, which were erected to compensate for the number of Covid-19 deaths during the pandemic, are reopening their doors again.
The refrigerated units – some of which resemble shipping containers – are being used to cope with the current winter death rates.
A Salisbury District Hospital spokesperson 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.”
