Angry pensioner surveys 6,000 graves

7:31pm Tuesday 27th November 2007

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By Tom Moseley »

A PENSIONER angered after his teenage son's grave was branded unsafe went on a painstaking mission surveying more than 6,000 headstones.

Norman Duckworth, of Cornwall Avenue, Knuzden, said he felt it was "his duty" as he felt the health and safety tests at Pleasington Cemetery were "barmy".

Despite being 74, he braved wind and rain over six weeks as carried out the task.

And he claimed to have found that many of the headstones had become loose because the contractors had applied pressure to see if they would buckle.

Mr Duckworth also said his "unofficial" tests revealed some stones just 15 inches high were branded unsafe, as well as others that were less than two years old.

He said 2,712 headstones out of 6,228 had been labelled dangerous by contractors.

Mr Duckworth sampled 300 headstones out of those that had failed.

He assessed them before and after and claimed that only a fifth of those had been unsteady beforehand.

Mr Duckworth only did a visual inspection and he did not touch the headstones "out of respect".

Council bosses have insisted their checks followed health and safety laws. And earlier this year independent checks said protocol had been followed.

But Mr Duckworth insisted the council's actions were barmy. He was spurred into action as his 17-year-old son's grave was one of the first to be branded unsafe. He was told to pay £168 to fix it.

Mr Duckworth said: "It was a worthwhile task. It had upset us so much. I wanted to get a figure for how many other people had been upset.

"The council won't release any figures, so I wanted to do the count so I knew.

"It was quite a slow process because I had to keep stopping while testing was done and for funerals. I didn't want to look too obvious or be disrespectful.

"I got wet feet a few times but I would have gone up in any weather. It was my duty.

"It all took me about two-and-a-half hours every day - which is quite tiring at my age."

The topple testing' policy adopted by Blackburn with Darwen Council has caused outrage, with "unsafe" headstones strapped up and relatives being told to pay to get them fixed. It applies to all cemeteries in the borough.

Under the procedure, pressure of 35kg is applied to each stone and if they move a wooden stake is used to support them. Relatives then have to pay to have it fixed.

Fellow campaigner, Marie Whalley, of Alpine Grove, Blackburn, said: "Mr Duckworth has given up a lot of hours and he deserves to be congratulated."

Eileen Eastham, of Milton Close, Darwen, whose husband's grave failed tests, said: "What Mr Duckworth has found reveals the extent of what you see when you look around."

Coun Alan Cottam, the council's executive member for regeneration, said: "The council has a duty through law to make sure headstones are safe. These are nationally applied tests, carried out with the Cemeteries and Crematorium Association.

"We would advise people not to carry out their own tests as they may cause themselves an injury. Should someone find that their headstone is unsafe, they need to contact a stonemason to ask for it to be repaired. Some have offered this repair free of charge."