According to Mirror UK, the temporary mortuary is under construction on Wanstead Flats, in Manor Park, east London, near the City of London crematorium and cemetery.

The new 4,000-bed NHS Nightingale Hospital is only a few miles away and patients who pass away at the facility are expected to be taken to the morgue.

It will serve as a holding place for the dead before burials and cremations can go ahead.

Building work on the complex got underway yesterday, with the site set to be ready within a few weeks.

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Residents near the construction site found out about the development when they received a letter from Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz.

The letter said that relatives will not be able to visit the site due to Public Health England guidelines.

She acknowledged that residents would be worried about potentially being infected and provided a FAQ document to help them.