A MEMORIAL service is to take place to mark the re-committal of bodies that were discovered when work started on the £4million Freckleton Street link road in Blackburn.

Experts found around 200 graves with multiple occupants on the land which was formerly the burial ground at the old St Peter’s Church.

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Exhumations were carried out while the road was finished with a team of up to 35 archaeologists, surveyors, osteologists, and exhumation specialists working at the site.

The bodies, from the 1800s, will now be reburied in the memorial gardens on each side of Wainwright Way which also feature some of the gravestones recovered from part of the burial ground.

A service to mark the reburial will take place on Thursday led by the Bishop of Blackburn the Rt Rev Julian Henderson.

He said: “I will be privileged to preside at the memorial service at St Peter’s Churchyard in Blackburn town centre.

“We will gather out of respect for those whose earthly remains have been re-interred in a new resting place and out of respect for their relatives and descendants who hold them in high regard.

“You don’t need to be a relative of one of the deceased to attend the memorial service however.

“We encourage anyone who wants to pay their respects to come along at noon on the day.

“I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the support given to this major project, particularly in the light of the sensitivities involved.

“I am grateful for the care taken by contractors and archaeologists in overseeing the work to ensure this will continue to be a site of remembrance for future generations.”

Cllr Phil Riley, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive member for regeneration, said: “This will be a fitting way to mark the end of the delicate work which took place at the memorial garden.

“I am really pleased we are holding this and that the Bishop of Blackburn is leading the service with families of the deceased in attendance.”

The service will start at noon at the garden on the side close to Freckleton Street.