The Newcastle Herald reports that a mourner was told last week that the only way she could bury her mother in an allocated space at Sandgate Cemetery was to have her cremated or embalmed due to rising water levels which had made it impossible to dig proper graves in certain parts of the cemetery.

Cemetery board of trustees chairman Peter Owens said it was hard on affected families but there were important health and safety guidelines to abide by and the situation was out of the board's hands.

"We are hitting water at about 18 inches," Mr Owens said.

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