CONTROVERSIAL ‘topple’ safety testing of gravestones at Colne Cemetery will start next year.

Pendle council is inviting families to a demonstration of the technique on Saturday, December 12 at 10am to show how the examinations will be done before the work starts on January 4.

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Anyone interested needs to meet at Colne Cemetery Chapel.

The testing is carried out every five years to ensure the cemetery is a safe place for friends and families and other visitors.

Pendle council started the safety testing across its six municipal burial grounds in 2008.

The process has proved controversial elsewhere in East Lancashire with protests after more than 2,700 graves were labelled unsafe at Pleasington Cemetery in Blackburn.

In 2008 more than 900 families were dismayed to be asked to pay cash to secure headstones in Burnley and Padiham.

Similar testing at Darwen Cemetery has also caused anger among families claiming damage to gravestones.

Borough parks boss Nadeem Ahmed said: “We will be checking all memorials in every Pendle council-run cemetery and graveyard.

“It includes testing over 10,000 gravestones and stone memorials.

“Safety is our priority and we work to national safety standards.”

David Wharton, from Pendle council’s parks and cemeteries team, will be carrying out the tests helped by an accredited memorial mason.

They will demonstrate the tests and how unstable headstones are fixed, on December 12.

He said: “We test the stability of memorials using a topple tester.

“It applies pressure to a gravestone equivalent to a person helping themselves up from the grave side by holding to the top of a memorial.

“We normally leave the memorial standing upright with temporary supports until families can be contacted.

“Relatives and friends are welcome to come and see what we’ll be doing around their loved ones’ graves on December 12.”

Where possible, Mr Wharton will write to the relatives responsible for any gravestones which have been found unstable to explain their options.

Anyone with questions or concerns should contact Mr Wharton at Pendle Council on 01282 661721.