One of the graves affected is that of Rosemary Maggs', who died of cancer in May. Her daughter-in-law Liz Maggs, from Bristol, put a 26-inch-high wooden cross on her grave to mark her burial plot while the family waited for a headstone to be made.
Photo from SWNS.
But when Mrs Maggs, 43, returned to visit the grave with her husband Charles and daughters Zoe, 16, and Danielle, 14, just a few days later she found the cross had disappeared. And when she reported to cemetery staff that the cross had been stolen, they told her it had been removed because it did not meet council regulations. Mrs Maggs, a carer, was told if she wanted the cross back she had to go and look in an alleyway at the back of the cemetery where items removed from graves were stored.
North Somerset Council said the cross on Rosemary Maggs' grave was not suitable because all the other graves in the cemetery had flat memorial stones, not upright headstones. The authority said that because the cross pointed about 2ft up from the ground it was a health and safety risk.
5 comments:
I gotta say, these "health and safety" regulations sound like they're being dreamed up by a committee of the world's most timid and frightened people.
why exactly is it a health threat?
<span>Other health & safety threats: Ladders. Elevators. Escalators. Stairs. Time to tear down all buildings taller tham one story, lest someone fall.</span>
As a cemetery buff, I find this very dissappointing. Modern cemeteries are very dull, headstones flat to the ground, no statues, or odd shaped graves. Kind of defeats the purpose.
I can see why it might be dangerous, especially if all the other headstones are flat. Trip on one of the headstones, impale yourself on a wooden cross, and be the next to be buried.
Come to think of it, shouldn't cemeteries be encouraging dangerous wooden crosses?
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