Greenfield land would be turned into burial grounds for thousands of victims in the event of an avian flu pandemic, under emergency plans being considered by the Government.

A nationwide shortage of cemetery space means that room would be needed to bury as many as 400,000 victims. A search is now under way to find greenfield sites on the edge of cities. Mass burial pits for the dead have been ruled out. Instead the plan is to create dignified, landscaped cemeteries that could become a memorial for victims.

Local government chiefs have been ordered to secure additional burial space as a priority after last month’s two-day exercise Operation Winter Willow, which tested Britain’s preparations for the grim reality of managing the dead and the sick and keeping the nation open for business.

It was the biggest emergency planning exercise since the end of the Cold War and involved 8,000 organisations and companies. One of the shortcomings identified was the lack of cemetery space. Councils must now agree contracts with companies supplying mechanical diggers so that individual burial plots may swiftly be prepared.

Should an epidemic hit, normal planning rules for the construction of public graveyards are to be scrapped.

A pandemic in which the H5N1 strain of bird flu mutates into a form that puts millions of people around the world at risk may be years ahead, but ministers and health chiefs are determined that the country must be made ready to cope.

A draft avian influenza contingency plan is to be published by the Department of Health this month and a final report completed by the summer.

The Times has learnt that families of the dead would still be able to choose between a burial or a cremation, but that lengthy funeral services are ruled out. Faith leaders have been asked to devise short religious services for the dispatch of the dead and to delay memorial services until the wave of disease is over.

In areas where the flu strain is rampant, schools would close and parents are to keep younger children under what amounts to house arrest. Emergency planning chiefs anticipate that the disease would spread more quickly among children as they have more physical contact with each other. Scientific experts have warned that a two-metre gap is required between individuals to stop the virus spreading through droplets.

Parents would keep their children at home for a period which may last from six to eight weeks. The Department for Education and Skills is preparing online learning projects in order that children may continue their education at home. Examinations would also be delayed if a pandemic occurs during traditional testing periods.

Ministers would relax the working hours directive, particularly for HGV drivers, who would work overtime to maintain distribution of fuel, food to supermarkets and money to banks. Other emergency laws requiring Parliamentary approval would be a suspension of strict financial reporting rules for companies where staff absences may make strict adherence to legal requirements impossible. Whitehall departments would operate around the clock and all key staff would have designated alternates. But ministers have ruled out any special treatment for politicians or senior civil servants. There are no secret stock-piles of Tamiflu for the Cabinet or emergency chiefs.

A key part in the exercise was to keep the nation calm, with regular broadcasts urging people to behave sensibly.Supermarkets have agreed to move in vast quantities of key supplies such as bottled water, cleaning and disinfecting materials and flu remedies if the disease takes hold.

Crisis targets

—The aim is to keep the nation open for business

—International flights will not be banned, although airline companies must prevent the sick from travelling

—There are to be no road blocks outside cities

—Ministers do not want armed troops on the streets or afflicted communities treated like 17th century plague villages

—Police will guard antiviral drug supplies and vaccines

—Employers are to stagger working hours so that a reduced public transport system will be able to cope

—Healthy people are expected to go to work. An absenteeism rate of 15-30 per cent is expected in each business including MPs and peers in Parliament, which itself will not close

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