Headstones safety fear

Almost 4,000 headstones in graveyards across Sandwell are in danger of toppling over after checks revealed them to be unsafe.

Bereaved relatives say they have no idea what will happen to gravestones deemed 'dangerous' by inspectors.

They claim they are facing bills of £200 for repairs but the council has allocated cash equivalent to only £10.60 for each grave.

A total of 3,747 memorials out of 21,892 were found to be hazardous when tests were carried out at seven borough cemetery sites.

Sandwell residents were furious after the council slapped luminous stickers on graves believed to be "unsafe". The council is also erecting bars around the headstones to "stabilise" them – a move branded insensitive and unneccesary.

In October last year ber-eaved families, many of whom had buried relatives just a few years earlier, at a cost of thousands – were told they would need to pay £200 to have memorials secured.

Sandwell Council has announced it will spend £40,000 on work to memorials before phase two inspections to see if they fall.

However, this investment works out at just £10.60 per headstone – far short of the £200 repair bill facing many.

Jeffrey Hunt, aged 66, of Horseley Heath said he found the council to be "extremely disrespectful".

Councillor Mahboob Hus-sain, Sandwell Council's cab- inet member for neighbourhoods, said: "This is going on across the country."

Graves at Uplands cemetery in Smethwick, Oldbury, Tipton, Fallings Heath in Wednesbury, Heath Lane in West Bromwich, Rowley Regis and Wood Green in Wednesbury have been tested in the first phase.