Work has started on a temporary mortuary at Birmingham Airport with space for up to 12,000 bodies in a worst-case scenario amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The airport is next to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC), which has already been mooted as a possible location for a temporary field hospital.

The west midlands has emerged as a hotspot for people testing positive for coronavirus.

The new hangar facility will initially have space for 1,500 bodies “but will expand to hold more”, according to the west midlands and Warwickshire strategic co-ordination group, which comprises police, councils and other authorities.

It is understood the site could expand to accommodate up to 12,000 bodies.

The mortuary could ultimately take on all deaths across the region, including those unrelated to coronavirus, and regional mortuaries may close to staff the new facility.

The latest official data recording deaths of those who had contracted Covid-19 showed that 40 of the 115 people who died in the most recent period – more than a third – had come from the region.

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said it would do its utmost to help.

Senior Birmingham coroner Louise Hunt said: “We understand that it is a very difficult time for everyone and we will do all that we can to make sure bereaved families understand what is happening to their loved ones and to release them for funeral as soon as we can.”

The government is making £1.6bn available to councils to deal with pressures on services from responding to coronavirus.

Deputy leader of Sandwell council Wasim Ali said a plan was needed because municipal mortuaries could run out of space and councils had to prepare for the worst. He said: “We really don’t want to have to use it, but if we do, then it’ll be available.”

Additional reporting by PA