AN ice rink in Widnes could be converted into a temporary mortuary as the region braces for more coronavirus deaths.

Halton Council has taken the step of hiring the Planet Ice rink at The Hive as a precautionary measure as cases of COVID-19 continued to rise.

A spokesperson for the council confirmed on Tuesday that the rink had been identified as a 'temporary body storage area' should extra mortuary space be required, but stressed its use was not inevitable.

It is the second UK ice rink to be taken over for use as a temporary mortuary after a Planet Ice in Milton Keynes was converted last week.  The Milton Keynes rink would be capable of holding hundreds of bodies, if the need arises. It is not clear how many bodies the Widnes rink could hold.

In Madrid, a major ice rink is already being used to hold dead bodies as the city struggles to deal with its own coronavirus outbreak.

The decision to hire Planet Ice was made on Monday by council chief executive David Parr, who along with other senior officers has been given the authority to exercise council powers in response to the crisis.

So far, there have been more than 500 deaths from coronavirus in hospitals in the north west, with 17 of those occurring at Warrington and Halton hospitals.

But the true death toll is likely to be higher as these figures only record deaths in hospital.

Meanwhile, the number of cases in Halton soared to 107 on Tuesday, rising 400% per cent in the past week.

Cases in Merseyside increased 255 per cent in the same period, while cases in Warrington rose by more than 500 per cent.