TRIBUTES to the dead are to be cleared from Elland's crematorium.

The move follows complaints from mourners visiting the garden of remembrance at Park Wood Crematorium.

Mementoes littering the ground and hanging from trees have led the area to be described as being like `Blackpool promenade'.

Crematorium manager Paul Stubbs has now called for a stop to the practice of decorating memorials.

He said the problem had got out of hand.

Hundreds of wind chimes now hang throughout the pretty and once tranquil grounds.

They can be heard inside the chapel during funeral services.

"This is a sensitive issue," said a Calderdale Council spokesman.

He added: "While the council appreciates that people may wish to commemorate their loved ones by leaving trinkets, the number and nature of items left there has caused distress to other people.

"The council will be writing to people who have left trinkets, informing them that they will have to be removed. The council will place them in storage for collection."

A spokesman for Kirklees Council's Bereavement Services Department said there had been no similar problems at Huddersfield Crematorium in Fixby.

"We would ask families to remove items if they proved inappropriate or obtrusive," he added.