Bungled Qld burial costs 10k to fix

A coffin buried in the wrong plot at a Townsville cemetery will cost $10,000 to move several metres by using a tunnel.

The remains of Lygeri Angelopoulos were mistakenly buried in a site owned by another family at Belgian Gardens Cemetery earlier this month.

The coffin will now be moved to a nearby plot, with Townsville City Council estimating it will cost around $10,000.

Rather than exhume the coffin, at the request of the Angelopoulos family it will be kept underground and moved via tunnel.

"It is like mining. They can do it all underground and will move it about four metres," Mrs Angelopoulos's son Angelos told the Townsville Bulletin.

A spokesman for Townsville Council said they accepted full responsibility for the mistake, adding both families had respectfully accepted the resolution.

The Angelopoulos family will hold a second burial service once it is moved.