Derry City and Strabane District Council has opened the new Mullenan Road cemetery.

The 27-acre site provides about 3,500 burial plots and is expected to meet demand for around 20 years.

The £5.2 million facility includes a Columbarium, dedicated ashes plots, an Islamic burial section with 200 plots facing Mecca, and a Garden of Angels area with about 100 spaces for stillborn babies.

The cemetery is designed as a level lawn site with accessible pathways and facilities for visitors with limited mobility.

Visiting hours are 8am to 8pm in summer and 8am to 4.30pm in winter.

Burials are arranged through local funeral directors. The council can be contacted on 02871 362615 in Derry or 02871 253253 in Strabane.

The opening follows six years of planning after capacity at the City Cemetery on Lone Moor Road, which opened in 1853, began to run out.