Parish councillors this week defended safety checks on headstones in Lutton churchyard from claims they are disrespectful.
Reader Trevor Russell, whose brother lives in the village, contacted The Voice last week to say he was concerned ‘topple tests’ could be damaging and disrespectful, and that they should be carried out in the presence of an accredited memorial mason.
But Lutton Parish Council chairman David Wilkinson said the tests were done on Monday with the utmost respect, and that the council was carrying out its statutory duty.
Mr Russell, of Wisbech, told us when the tests were previously carried out in 2010 the site was left in a mess.
“It was just like a waste tip,” he said.
Mr Wilkinson said on that occasion the work had been done insensitively, with hazard tape placed on the headstones. The make-up of the council had changed since then.
The tests were carried out on Monday morning with “the utmost respect”, said Mr Wilkinson.
“The Parish Council is a member of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM) and have been on several training sessions.
“As an authority we are legally responsible to keep the cemetery safe. For insurance reasons we are responsible for checking the headstones,” he added.
The testing was done by hand. Headstones deemed unstable would have been labelled with “discreet markers” and the owner contacted. As a last resort very unstable headstones would have been laid down. As it happened, none were in such a bad condition, said Mr Wilkinson.
According to the ICCM: “The management of memorials has been a major problem throughout the UK for most cemetery managers. There have been six deaths over the past 10 years and many serious accidents.” It is feared, for example, that a child playing in a graveyard could be injured by a falling headstone.
