The mayor of a small town in southern Italy has forbidden residents to die, because there is no cemetery for them to be buried in.

Giulio Cesare Fava, the mayor of Falciano del Massico, located about 30 miles (50 kilometres) north of Naples, southern Italy, issued the order earlier this month stating, "it is forbidden for residents ... to go beyond the boundaries of earthly life, and to go into to the afterlife."

The unusual order follows a dispute with a neighbouring town, which has owned the old cemetery since local boundaries were redrawn in 1964.

"It all started in 1964, when the town of Falciano gained autonomy from the town of Carinola," Mayor Fava explained. "The problem arose when they subdivided the land, because when they divided the territory, the administrators did not think about the fact that the town of Falciano would not have its own cemetery," the mayor added.

The deceased of the two neighbouring towns continued to be buried in the old cemetery, until one day there was no more room left. The two communities disagree about a planned expansion of the site, so Fava pulled out of the project and decided to build a new cemetery for Falciano del Massico's living 4,000 residents.

"(The former administrators) planned a huge project that couldn't be done, so we ended up with the saturation of that little cemetery. There are no more niches available and the citizens protested, so I issued a challenging ordinance in which I said: "Citizens, while we await the construction of the new cemetery, I order you not to die, so we don't have any problems," Fava told Associated Press.

Most of the residents of Falciano think that it is absurd that their town doesn't have its own cemetery and that they have to travel to other neighbouring towns to bury their loved ones, separating them from their relatives who are buried at the old cemetery.

But they also find the mayor's ordinance very amusing. "I wonder how many people might ask for citizenship here, you cannot die here! It's a beautiful place, you can have a very long life, eternal life. It would be nice," joked local resident Antonio Scarano.

Don Valentino Simoniello, the local parish priest, told Associated Press that the situation is very sad. Asked about the ordinance, Don Valentino said that he thinks that "people have realised that it has been a challenge, because we don't have the power to limit death, only our Lord has it."

So far only two residents have disobeyed the edict, La Stampa daily reported, with two recorded deaths since March 5. But until the mayor of Falciano del Massico gains the right permits and builds the new final resting place, the townsfolk have been ordered to keep on living.