Cemetery action was "over the top"

RELATIVES could have been saved the distress of having loved ones' graves laid flat, says a safety consultant.

Craigan Barnett, who runs Bodiam-based Weald Health and Safety, says Rother ignored the advice of its own insurers and went over the top after its safety inspection at Bexhill cemetery.

But Rother head of amenties Alwyn Roebuck says all the alternatives were considered but councillors decided on a lay-flat policy.

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Zurich Municipal's own Guide To Safety In Burial Grounds, issued in conjunction with the Association of Burial Authorities, says unsafe memorials can be made safe as a temporary measure by using stakes and straps or a purpose-made steel frame.

Some 272 gravestones were laid flat during the first phase.

Mr Barnett, who was not among the safety consultants invited to tender for the task of checking the 8,000-plot cemetery, has quoted Zurich's guidance to the Observer and given the paper a copy.

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