A Newport mortuary is set to be sold to the Welsh Ambulance Service, allowing it to meet an increase in demand for services.
The Bassaleg Mortuary in Park View has been out of use for the last 12 months and is no longer needed by the tenants who rent it from Newport City Council.
Newport City Council, which owns the property, is proposing to sell it to the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust for £95,000.
The purchase will allow the ambulance service to expand a site it has next to the mortuary in the Bassaleg area.
“Given the increase in demand upon the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust, expansion of the site in Bassaleg will help alleviate some of the pressure,” a council report says.
“The extra services that could be provided will help the local community by providing an increased service.”
The expansion could also result in new jobs being created and boost regeneration in the area by bringing an empty property back into use, the report says.
Several offers were made for the mortuary proposing alternative uses, but the highest came from the ambulance service.
The sale will be on the condition of an overage in favour of the city council, so that in the event the ambulance service sell the property for residential use and its value is increased, any profit would be shared with the council.
Cllr Abdul-Majid Rahman, cabinet member for assets, is set to approve declaring the mortuary surplus and selling it to the ambulance trust as a cabinet member decision next Monday, August 24.
