Large stacks of empty coffins are piled up at a temporary morgue in the car park of a Birmingham mosque as Government expands mortuaries by an extra 30,000 spaces

Dozens of coffins stored inside a temporary mosque morgue have given a rare insight into the scale of the coronavirus crisis which has now claimed the lives of 16,060 people across the UK.

The government has now announced that it will be expanding mortuaries by an extra 30,000 spaces, a plan ministers say is a precaution rather than a prediction.

As part of the new scheme local government authorities will use existing buildings and may adapt some buildings that will be placed next to NHS and other mortuaries. 

Images show the coffins placed on top of each other inside the mortuary built on the car park of Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Small Heath, Birmingham, comes as the country continues to grapple with the scale of the pandemic.

The sobering scenes comes just three weeks after the mosque in the West Midlands erected the tent, which contains five fridges, in an effort to deal with the increasing death toll among the Islamic faith.

The distressing pictures from inside the morgue, which can hold up to 150 bodies at a time, are believed to be one of the first glimpses inside a makeshift morgue in Britain.

+13

Images from inside a makeshift mortuary built outside Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Small Heath, Birmingham, are believed to be one of the first glimpses inside a makeshift morgue in the UK

+13

Dozens of coffins were seen stacked on top of each other inside the temporary mortuary in the West Midlands

+13

The mosque decided to build the temporary mortuary in an effort to cope with the increasing death toll

In other images, specially trained staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) were seen removing transparent plastic sheets around the coffins and inspecting them. 

While in other scenes, volunteers were seen carrying the coffins from a van inside the makeshift morgue. 

Speaking to the BBC, local government minister Simon Clarke said the new 30,000 figure was not in place to alarm people.

'We all hope these contingencies will not be needed... that requires everyone to play their part in the national effort.

'We're trying to strike an appropriate balance.'

Earlier this week, mosque trustee and volunteer Mohamid Zahid, 52, said volunteers at the mosque had been transporting Muslim coronavirus victims from hospitals, and placing them in refrigerators inside the tent before laying them to rest in accordance with the Islamic religion.