A city morgue has been forced to buy a forklift to handle obese corpses.

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Glebe Morgue pathologist Matthew Orde said larger bodies were difficult to lift, move and store and, therefore, an injury risk for workers.

Orde said that putrefaction or the degradation of soft tissue was quicker in morbidly obese patients, making handling difficult.

The report said almost half of the New South Wales population was classified overweight or obese in 2005 and that the state government had bought three extra-large AUD150,000 ambulances fitted with hydraulic lifts.