Plans to exhume bodies buried at a former prison have moved a step closer after permission was granted for the land to be deconsecrated.

The Secretary of State for Justice has allowed the Diocese of Salisbury to complete the process of deconsecrating the land at HMP Dorchester so that the buried remains there can be moved.

It comes amid heritage property developer City and Country's plans to transform the grade II listed prison into almost 200 homes.

However, City and Country said the Diocese still has to return to the Secretary of State to apply for a licence to exhume the bodies, and it's unclear how long the process could take.

Remains buried at the site include those of Martha Brown, the convicted murderess whose death was witnessed by a young Thomas Hardy and inspired one of his most well-known novels, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and David Jennings, a convicted murderer, who was the last person to be buried at the yard after he was executed at the prison in 1941.

The county town prison was closed in 2013 by the Ministry of Justice and sold off for development, later being bought by City and Country in December 2014.

Campaigners had previously voiced concerns that any development could be built over the remains of those buried in the former prison grounds.

Lord Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, has previously thrown his weight behind campaigners saying it would be 'completely unacceptable' for bodies to be left at the site.

As reported by the Echo in March 2018, Dorchester Town Council agreed to accept the bodies of former convicts from Dorchester Prison at Poundbury Cemetery, which it owns.

A spokesman for City and Country said consent to deconsecrate the land was an "important hurdle" in the plans to develop the site.

He said: "City and Country applied to the Diocese to lift the legal effect of the consecrated land, and that consent has been given.

"However, they still need to apply for an exhumation licence which is given by the Secretary of State before any human remains can be exhumed.

"It's important to stress that the Diocese consent covers only a small part of the consecrated land."