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Plans to ban the cremation of morbidly obese people in the Spanish city of Valencia have been withdrawn, reports say.

The regional ministry of health changed course amid claims it would discriminate against the obese.

The proposal was made on the grounds of reducing pollution.

Experts said an average cremation released 400kg of CO2 into the atmosphere - and significantly more if the deceased was morbidly obese.

In a report they said that in such cases, "you need a very high amount of fuel leading increase in pollution".

The growing popularity of cremations over burials in Valencia has led the authorities to become concerned about the resultant pollution in the city.

In 2017 nearly 45,000 bodies were cremated in the city.