Storm over flattened headstones

FACED by a flood of mourners' tears and protests, Lewes District Council has temporarily pulled back on a decision to take down gravestones it deems unsafe in the cemeteries it manages.

Earlier this week, contractors had levelled 431 gravestones out of the 4,359 that had been checked in Seaford Cemetery. But by Tuesday, in the face of mounting public anger, a moratorium was called, allowing time for people themselves to make their relatives' memorials safe.

The breathing space will give next-of-kin the opportunity to contact stonemasons if they feel a gravestone is in danger of toppling over.

On Monday, when protests were at their height, Cllr David Neighbour, cabinet member for the community, defended the council's decision to take immediate action: 'What would have happened of a child was killed while we were waiting to tell someone by letter that something needed to be done to a gravestone?' he said

'We are taking unsafe gravestones down respectfully and, as soon as we find out the next-of-kin, we write to them about it.'

It is the responsibility of relatives to make sure the headstones are properly in place and safe.

Cecil Barker thought a mistake had been made when he found his mother's headstone lying in the grass at Seaford Cemetery.

Mr Barker, of Lake Drive, Peacehaven, arrived on Thursday last week to pay his usual fortnightly respects at his mother's and his wife's graves. There, he discovered his mothers' headstone lying next to her grave, along with many others.

An angry Mr Barker said: 'The first thing I thought was that vandals had been in the cemetery. But later I found out the reason was because Lewes District Council has put into place a safety policy on all memorials.'

Unhappy with his discovery, Mr Barker said: 'It is a terrible injustice to my mother's memory. I always look after the graves and nothing was wrong with them the last time I went. I even rocked the headstone to check it was OK and it was fine.'

He added: 'I have never seen anything like it. Everyone I have spoken to is shocked by the council's decision. I am appalled. It's going to cost me a lot of money to put it right. I think the council should pay for what they have done.'

Protests have come from across the district. In a letter to the Sussex Express, Albert Turner of The Lynchets, Lewes, writes: 'My wife and I visited Seaford cemetery on Saturday morning and were horrified to find the devastation that Lewes District Council had caused by pulling gravestones over, and I repeat over, as a gentleman attending his wife's grave witnessed them rocking the gravestones to make sure they would lay on the ground.'

He added that the machine testing the gravestones should be sent away and be tested, as he saw two men forcibly pushing the gravestones over.