Grave safety policy 'upsetting'

A private company is used to test the gravestones

Families on Tyneside are angry that hundreds of gravestones are being declared unsafe and laid flat by council workers.

South Tyneside Council says all memorials have to be checked under current health and safety rules.

The cost of replacing an unsafe gravestone falls to the grave owner.

Relatives say the policy is disrespectful and upsetting, but the council says it has no choice but to comply with legislation.

So far, the local authority has examined 19,000 out of 28,000 memorials.

Child killed

The tests are carried out by a private contractor, which applies force to gravestones in order to test their stability.

Kevin Wallace, environmental maintenance manager for South Tyneside Council, said: "This has happened in cemeteries across the country since 2004.

"There were some serious accidents during the previous year, one in particular where a child was killed in a Harrogate cemetery.

"As a result the Health and Safety Executive laid down rules which we have to comply with.

"But we feel for the people affected, and do everything in our power to make the process as easy as possible."

Notices are posted in cemeteries, with contact phone numbers for concerned residents to call, he added.