EXHUMATIONS have begun today at St Lawrence's Church on Brentford High Street.

According to Brentford Voice, the first body lifted is that of a soldier who died during the First World War.

Although a representative of the Diocese of London is present at the exhumations, members of the community have not been allowed to attend.

Brentford Voice claim that Ballymore - who are the developers responsible for the site - have not informed the community of the exhumations taking place today.

The majority of the exhumations are deemed to be necessary in preparation for the seven-storey block of flats that will be erected, which will incorporate 18 apartments.

The remains of approximately 845 parishioners will be exhumed over time and will be reinterred at Brookwood Cemetery near Woking in Surrey.

The London Diocese told Brentford Voice that there will be a proper ceremony at the receiving burial site in due course and that they are negotiating for a suitable memorial both at St Lawrence's Church and the receiving burial ground.

A spokesperson for Brentford Voice said: "Brentford Voice is determined to do all we can to ensure that the ancestors of our community are remembered and memorialised.

"We will seek to ensure that remaining headstones will be placed around the perimeter of the site and that the Ronalds family tomb is retained in situ.

"We will also press for appropriate memorials to the dead from the Battle of Brentford in 1642, the families of those who worked on the Grand Union Canal, and the Commonwealth War Graves of the two servicemen who died during the First World War."

A spokesperson for Ballymore said: "We have undertaken a significant notification process ahead of beginning these works.

"The exhumations are necessary to bring forward the approved planning permission, the legislation stipulates that all bodies within the new graveyard are to be moved as part of the process.

"Those families who have come forward and requested their ancestors are reburied elsewhere are being accommodated.

"All remaining bodies will be moved and reinterred at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.

"As part of the wider transformation of Brentford's town centre and high street, the deconsecrated St Lawrence's Church will be sensitively restored, with plans for it to become a community hub and space to host pop-ups, events and shows.

"The gardens of the church will also be reimagined as a new landscaped space for residents and locals."

A spokesperson for the Commonwealth War Graves said: "Since 2014 we have been in discussions with stakeholders about the redevelopment of land at St Lawrence's Church in Brentford.

"Among those buried there are two war graves under our care, those of Gunner Albert Ellen and Lt Merrick Prismall.

"Since the 1960s we have been unable to commemorate both these men at their grave sites, and after careful consideration we have agreed for their graves to be moved to a more suitable site.

"Our policy on exhumations remains that it should only be undertaken as a last resort, which was the case here.

"We will continue to uphold our responsibility of commemorating these two men, who will be buried at Brookwood Cemetery, adjoining the largest CWGC cemetery in the UK."