TECHNOLOGY to cut the deadly fumes caused by cremations could be installed in Tendring, a Newsquest investigation has uncovered.

Weeley Crematorium is among 91 per cent of the UK’s publicly-run crematoria, including those run by joint committees, which does not have pollution-reducing deNOx equipment.

The kit, produced by Facultatieve Technologies, costs about £30,000.

Using one can reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) - a contributor to respiratory health problems - by up to 80 per cent.

However, many local authorities are yet to do so because controlling the emission of nitrogen oxides is not a legal requirement.

Tendring councillor Michael Talbot, responsible for the environment and public space, said: “We’re aware this deNOx tech will reduce NOx emissions and are waiting for our cremator supplier to develop the technology, at which point we’ll consider installing the equipment.”

Around 95 per cent of coffins used in cremations are made from chipboard and MDF.

Funerals using these types of coffins produce the same amount of NOx gas as a car driving 2,280 miles, according to industry magazine Pharos - the equivalent of a car driving more than twice the length of the UK.

Last year, there were 1,687 cremations carried out in Weeley.

Tendring and six other Essex sites out of 11, which supplied Newsquest’s data team with information, stated there were no plans to introduced deNOx equipment.

But there is a mercury abatement system onsite at Weeley.

Mr Talbot added: “There are other environmentally-friendly cremation options in development such as water cremation, promession (freeze drying a corpse) and electric.

“We’re monitoring their progress and suitability, as is the industry.

“We acknowledge the environmental impact cremations can have, and with the council having declared a climate emergency last summer, we’re looking at ways across the authority to reduce our footprint on the world in which we live.”

Freedom of Information requests showed just 12 UK crematoria stated there are plans to install deNOx equipment and 16 said they might in the future.

Key figures in the funeral industry say the problem has been kept under the radar, claiming it is potentially bad PR for crematoriums.