Gravestone row rages on

THE row over toppled Seaford Cemetery headstones raged on this week as an upset family threatened to sue Lewes District Council.

People were furious when council contractors levelled the grave stones of their dead loved ones on the basis they were unsafe.

Relatives were not told individually of the plans and no advertisements were placed in the local press. Warning notices, however, were put up at the cemetery three weeks before the work started on toppling 431 headstones.

INCENSED

Les Edwards, 81, of Hythe Crescent, said he intended to take the council to court for the damage caused. People will have to foot the bill themselves to replace the monuments.

Mr Edwards was incensed his brother-in-law's gravestone had been knocked over. His sister-in-law, who is ill in a nursing home, had intended her name to be added to the stone when she was buried alongside him. He and his wife could not bring themselves to tell the 87-year-old woman the news for fear the shock would worsen her condition.

Mr Edwards said: 'My wife's sister has been in hospital ill and we dare not tell her about the headstone, it would kill her to know what had happened.

'For 30 years the family has laid flowers and maintained the grave, and now it has been destroyed by council vandals. I intend to get legal aid and sue Lewes District Council.'

Sally Woodgate, of Seafield Close, buried her 20-year-old son Stuart at Seaford Cemetery after he was killed in a road traffic accident.

She and friends who also laid family members to rest at the cemetery were so angry at the council's actions they had arranged a public meeting to allow people to have their say.

The meeting will be held at Chyngton Methodist Church Hall, Millberg Road, Seaford, tomorrow (Saturday) at 7pm.

Mrs Woodgate said: 'This vandalism just reopened the wound. Myself and a couple of other mums got together because we were so concerned about it all and called an open meeting.'

LESSON

Seaford Town Council member Julian Peterson said a lesson should be learned from the saga. 'I have every sympathy for the relatives and friends of the deceased, I hope that in the future this matter will be dealt with in a more sensitive manner, taking into account people's concerns.'

Lewes District Council has called a halt to further work on tombstones to allow relatives to make the memorials safe themselves.

The council's chief executive John Crawford issued an apology. He said: ' We apologise for any distress that has been caused.

'We are very conscious of the feelings of people who are now awaiting work to be done to modern memorials before they can be replaced.

'We are currently working to find a solution that will resolve the issues that people have raised with us.'

But there were no plans for the council to fund the replacement or repair of the damaged stones said a Lewes District Council spokesman. 'At the moment there are no plans to compensate people for the cost of replacing the stones.'