Oldham Council will consider erecting a memorial ‘as a matter of urgency’ on the site of a mass grave containing 300 bodies, including babies and children.
An unmarked burial site at Royton Cemetery in Oldham contains the bodies of 145 stillborn children, 128 babies and young children and 29 adults.
A local woman came across the site, which was already known to the authorities, while she was trying to find where her twin brothers, who died in 1962, were buried.
Before the 1980s, stillborn babies were taken away from families who were not informed about where they were buried.
The other bodies in the grave are believed to be individuals who were given ‘pauper’s burials', an option offered by the state to families who could not afford to pay for a grave.
A motion has called for the council to erect a memorial to the buried children, and to make records and documents about the burials more accessible to the public.
Cllr Arooj Shah, leader of Oldham council, said: ‘We understand this news will be upsetting for a lot of people and our thoughts are with them.
‘As a matter of urgency, we will consider the suggestion being made and what may be appropriate to recognise those buried in Royton by providing a suitable memorial.’
