Both the council and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which advised on the plans, said that they will not bury anyone directly on top of a war grave.

But the graves are currently unmarked, and locals say they are concerned that the proposals are not sufficiently respectful.

A spokesman for the Commission said: "We have agreed with Southwark LBC that war graves will not be disturbed during the process and that no burials will take place above the war graves.

"We only have responsibility for the war graves and these have all been identified and will not be affected by the works.

"We follow a similar process at other sites where the war graves are exempt from any reuse scheme."

The other people buried in this area, who are generally poor residents who were buried in mass graves, will have burials made on top of them.

The Commission’s rules say that war graves must be marked where possible.

But in his judgement Philip Petchey, Chancellor for the Southwark Diocese, suggested that some of the graves could be left unmarked.

He said: "It occurred to me that in the present case it might be better for all 48 graves to remain unmarked both as reflecting the position at the time of burial and also as of now not seeking to make distinctions between the remains of those buried in the same area."