Grave threat

Feb 22 2006 By Andrew Hirst, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

MORE than 25,000 headstones in Kirklees cemeteries could topple over at any time.

And there are fears that any of this huge number could crush someone - or even kill them.

A furore erupted among families after Kirklees Council started to check the headstones on graves in Kirkheaton Cemetery.

But people doing the work have now revealed that headstones at all 13 Kirklees cemeteries will be checked in the coming years.

Any said to be dangerous will be laid flat.

That could mean more than 25,000 headstones are wobbly and urgently need fixing.

Kirklees staff checked 263 headstones in Kirkheaton Cemetery and found 122 were unsafe. Some are less than five years old.

The dangerous stones have been uprooted and laid flat.

Others, which need specialist gear to be moved, have been temporarily staked to the ground. But they will also be laid flat if they are not properly re-secured by their families.

Kirklees chiefs insist the headstones are reinstated by monumental masons using new methods. These involve stainless steel fixing equipment to secure them to their bases.

Families are not allowed to put them back up themselves using just cement.