Officials in southeast China have smashed thousands of coffins, some of which were exhumed, as it intensified a campaign banning people from burying their dead.

The “zero burial” policy in Jianxi province, where people regularly splash life savings on expensive coffins for themselves, was introduced six months ago to cut down on land being used by burials.

Over the past week heavy-handed enforcement of the policy by the local government - resulting in dramatic footage of coffins piled up for smashing - has caused outrage across China, with state media describing the scenes as “barbaric”.

Videos and images showed officials taking coffins from villagers’ homes, piling them up, then having them destroyed. They were also filmed forcibly removing protesters lying inside their own coffins to protect the boxes they had bought in preparation for their funerals.

A 29 year-old man in Jian village, who refused to be named due to fear of repercussions, told state media that his grandparents had their coffins taken.