AN MP is calling for bodies buried at sea to be legally required to undergo DNA sampling to avoid further police procedures.

Being buried at sea is legal in only three locations around England – and one of them is Newhaven.

The term describes the procedure of laying to rest human remains on the ocean floor, as an alternative to a traditional interment in a cemetery or churchyard.

The Sussex-based site is based around eight miles off the coast between Hastings and Newhaven.

The other two sites are The Needles Spoil Ground in the Isle of Wight and Tynemouth near Newcastle.

The Argus: Being buried at sea is legal in only three locations around England – The Needles Spoil Ground in the Isle of Wight, Tynemouth and Newhaven Being buried at sea is legal in only three locations around England – The Needles Spoil Ground in the Isle of Wight, Tynemouth and Newhaven

Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely told the House of Commons that the legal mandate to require DNA samples to be taken before burial would spare grieving families from an “unnecessary process” involving the police and coroners if the body washed up.

He asked ministers to add mandatory DNA sampling into the Judicial Review and Courts Bill, as it received its second reading in the chamber earlier this week.

The Conservative backbencher said that “about once or twice a year, sadly, body parts wash up on the coast of the Isle of Wight”.

“If Aunt Maj has recently been buried at sea and parts of her have washed up, the family don’t necessarily want to give DNA because it is an unnecessary process,” he added.

“Clearly if there is no DNA sample there then either it is a suicide, or a murder, or somebody who fell off a liner somewhere in the world.”

The MP recalled how an end of an arm washed up in 2016, followed by a matching skull and a man’s body the following year.

There had also been a “headless torso” discovered in recent years, as well as a skeleton washing up on the shores of the island.

“These are most likely to happen after storms which either break up a coffin or they will force a body onto land,” he explained.

“They are very often discovered by dog walkers in the morning on the beach which is clearly not something you want to see first thing.”

The MP added: “One of the principles of the Bill is about using the coroners and the police to achieve more efficiency and frankly to do their work in a more productive way.

“Therefore, I believe as good as this Bill is, it can be improved with the use of or the facilitation of mandatory DNA sampling on the UK DNA database so that police and coroners can quickly identify where body parts washed up on the UK coastline come from.”

The public can propose a new site for sea burial, but will need to supply coordinates and evidence to demonstrate to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) that the site is suitable for burials at sea.

According to the MMO, anyone who wishes to bury someone at sea must have a special licence.

Other requirements include that the body is not embalmed, is lightly dressed in “biodegradable material”, and “has a durable identification tag with the details of the funeral director”.

The MMO also specifies the coffin must be made from solid softwood and must not contain any plastic, lead, copper or zinc. This is to make sure it biodegrades and to protect the area from contamination.

To make sure the coffin sinks quickly to the seabed and does not float around, two-inch (50mm) holes must be drilled throughout, and about 200kg (440lb) should be clamped to the base.