WORCESTER is doing its bit to tackle global warming - by spending £1.1m on cleaning up emissions from the city's crematorium.

The city council is buying equipment to slash carbon dioxide coming from the Astwood Road crematorium by half before 2012.

It has allocated £1.15m towards installing abatement equipment, but could share the cost with other crematoriums in an effort to make the investment easier on the budget.

In line with other councils Worcester has no choice but to reduce pollution - the Government has set a target of reducing CO2 emissions to 12 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012 and sees crematorium clean-ups as a good way to move towards that target.

City council cabinet member for tourism and riverside regeneration Coun Francis Lankester said: "We need to do something, even though the goalposts between now and 2012 will probably move."

The Kyoto Treaty requires EU countries to reduce CO2 emissions to eight per cent below 1990 levels between 2008-2012, though the UK has set tougher targets for itself.

Council bosses said they would increase cremation fees and charge people an environmental levy for choosing to cremate in the future.

They say adding £50-£75 to the current cost of £318 per cremation would raise £100,000 every year, helping to make the million-pound-plus cost easier to bear.