Dorset mayor Barry Jarvis said Bridport residents had to be buried at Scottsdale, and that the situation was becoming stressful for some local residents.

"We have been lobbied, the families that had early settlers around the Bridport area are wanting to add their remains in the cemetery," he said.

"At the moment there is one plot that has been taken, or earmarked for a person, there is land there, but there are issues around the water table and the soil moving.

"I know they had a lot of trouble the last time they had a funeral there, which is obviously distressing, but I can understand the residents wanting to ... be buried in the town they have resided in for a lot of years."

The issue was raised by Councillor Shaun Moore at last month's council meeting.

Cr Jarvis said the council would look at developing another site in the town.

"They've given a commitment they will have a bit of a look at it ... there's just no timelines around it," he said.

"You've got issues at Bridport, you've got a lot of granite once you get up off the flat area.

"We would possibly look at investigating another site because they have basically deemed that one impractical and not safe to use for a lot of reasons."