Britain’s dead should be buried alongside A-roads and railway lines because of a lack of space in graveyards and cemeteries, a former director of public health has argued.

With half a million deaths annually in England and Wales, Professor John Ashton argues there will likely be no burial space left within five years.

[Read More: ‘What happens when you die?’ and 6 other common questions about death answered]

Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Professor Ashton also referenced the growing interest (and also, concern) in the environmental and health impacts of the fluids and materials used in embalming and coffins.

He acknowledged a move towards simpler funeral approaches – such as green funerals with biodegradable clothing and coffins in woodland areas.

One such idea was a flat-pack coffin, exhibited at a funeral expo in Amsterdam earlier this year. The coffin won the first Dutch final footprint award for being “CO2-neutral”. There are also biodegradable urns which grow into trees.

“A glimpse of what might be possible with political will and imagination can be seen by what has happened alongside long-forgotten canals by neglect and default where wildlife corridors have evolved over time,” said Prof Ashton, who was formerly North West Regional Director of Public Health in England.

“It is time to revisit the public health roots of human burial and connect them to a new vision for a planet fit for future generations.”

Co-op Funeralcare’s Director of Funerals, David Collingwood, argued that nationally there isn’t a lack of burial space other than in a small number of cities. He also noted that the funeral market is constantly changing: years ago most people opted for burials, but now 80% of funerals undertaken by Co-op are cremations.

“There will always be a requirement for new burial plots, because some religions and cultures specifically require burials,” he told HuffPost UK. “But not in the volume expected in this report.”