Cemetery restricts hours to stop vandalism

The gates of Durrington Cemetery will now be closed at dusk each night to stop anti-social behaviour, including boy racers charging round the cemetery, alleged drug activity and vandalism taking place throughout the night.

Despite all efforts, problems have escalated, bucking the trend elsewhere in West Sussex, where other cemeteries with 24-hour pedestrian access have not suffered damage and nuisance.

Instead, Durrington cemetery, near Offington roundabout, has seen an increase in major problems for more than two years.

The night closure will start from September 1 with the gates being locked within an hour of the stated closing time.

The opening hours from April to September are 8am to 8pm and from October to March 8am to 6pm. Notices will be placed around the cemetery to let people know what is happening.

The cemetery has been the subject of a concerted campaign of action by Findon Valley residents association, following continued damage to gravestones.

Worthing council and Sussex Police have been working together following many complaints made about the nightime activities.

Executive head of service, John Thorpe, said: "We have taken this action following consultation with the police and our community safety colleagues in order to protect the council's interests and those of bereaved families.

"The decision to close the cemetery overnight has been reluctantly taken following a number of incidents of criminal damage, theft and anti-social behaviour. We do not expect that visitors will be unduly inconvenienced and we are giving notice of our proposals to ensure that those wishing to visit the graves of loved ones can plan to visit and be assured that the cemetery will be open.

"Access will still be possible at all reasonable daylight times, but we also will be monitoring the situation and will review the arrangements if we feel that we need to."

Sgt Ian Cooke from the Worthing Neighbourhood Policing Team, added: "Due to the consistent level of complaints we have received about the misuse of the area by some people over the late evenings in the cemetery, we have in consultation with the council asked for the gates to be locked overnight to prevent this happening.

"This will be reviewed in the future and it isn't a measure we like to take, but we don't want to see the site damaged or the current situation escalating further."

David Goncalves, chairman of Findon Valley Resident's Association, said: "It has been a long time coming for the move to close the cemetery at night.

"It's a shame so many memorials had to be damaged for the message to finally get across to close the gates at night. FVRA has certainly been backing this for quite some time now."