THE TEMPORARY morgue on Salisbury District Hospital's site is yet to be used, it has been confirmed.

The purpose of new facility, built at the end of last month, was to provide additional capacity during the peak of the pandemic.

However, five weeks since the lockdown was introduced, Wiltshire Council, which manages the facility, confirmed that so far, there has been no need to rely on the new morgue.

A second facility built on the site of Swindon's Great Western Hospital has also not been used.

In a statement, CEOs Alistair Cunningham and Terence Herbert said: "As part of the national response to Covid-19, the storage facility sited at Salisbury District Hospital is completed and is on standby, ready to be used as a regional facility should the need arise.

"At present, the standard storage facilities in the region have been operating within capacity, and as such we have not yet needed to use the temporary facilities."

The two morgues have a combined capacity of 1,000 bodies.

They will remain on both sites for as long as required.