A scaled-down proposal has been presented for a crematorium in Hooton in response to public concerns about previous plans from Scottish consortium 'Horizon Cremation'.

The new bid from Hooton Paddocks, a local family company, is to be built on a secluded site on School Lane, utilising previously developed land.

The prospective architects say the project would be a sympathetically designed and carefully proportioned crematorium building, less than half the size of the one proposed by Horizon.

Richard Evans, Managing Director of Hooton Paddocks, said: "Bereaved families should have the chance to hold a more personal event closer to home, but the community needs a facility which is also respectful to the countryside by being of proportionate scale and discreet."

Mr Evans has been looking for an appropriate site since losing a bid to open a crematorium on Waterworks Lane, Hooton in 2008. His company's proposal will see the agreed removal of an existing house and stable block but will minimize the impact on Green Belt land.

Currently, families from Ellesmere Port and South Wirral have to travel to Landican or Blacon for cremation services, with the former reported to be the fifth busiest crematorium in the country, with an average of 3200 funerals each year.

The new development would hold just four funerals a day, enabling better spacing and a less rushed funeral experience.

Mr Evans added: "We will create a natural, beautiful place with the existing landscape enhanced with extensive extra planting of trees, flowers, hedgerows and shrubs to create a spot befitting for a funeral. There will be a significant ecological enhancement as a result."

A public exhibition of the plans will be held at the Woodcote Hotel on Hooton Road between 12 noon and 7.30pm on Thursday 27th January. The plans can also be viewed at www.Hooton-Paddocks.co.uk with residents encouraged to put forward their views.