CAMPAIGNERS are calling out for relatives of workers at Calderstones Hospital who may have been buried there.

All Faith Remembrance Parks Ltd bought the Calderstones cemetery, Whalley, after years of neglect.

Work has started on the site for a new cemetery but local residents are worried that unmarked graves are going to be disturbed by machinery.

Mel Diack, who lives in Whalley, said: “We need to get people who worked in the hospital to get in touch as we are worried that the graves may have been disturbed.

“There could also be graves of babies who were born out of wedlock and they may not have had a headstone so may not have been identified there.

“We don’t want to see any graves disturbed, and we met the company’s general manager the other day to express our concerns and state that we do not wish to see any bodies exhumed.

“She has said that they will look at repositioning the car park which as it currently stands would impinge on several graves, and on another drawing we have it still looks very close to some graves near the two former chapels.

“The burials took place from the mid-1920s until the 1970s and the former graveyard was sold off 20 years ago by the NHS and has changed owners several times.”

Many of the former patients came from the Liverpool and Manchester areas but residents are worried they may never know.

At a recent meeting, residents were told that different kinds of ceremonies would take place at the new cemetery especially Hindu ceremonies involving up to 1,000 people, and they are worried about mourners visiting the site.

Mr Diack said: “Car parking is obviously essential to cater for these large numbers and if there are coaches coming too then they are going to be using it.

“There is not much parking nearby.”

Angela Dunn, general manager of All Faiths Remembrance Parks Ltd, said: “There has been a history of vandalism on the site. At one time most of the headstones were destroyed or removed, leaving only three memorials on the site. All Faiths intend retaining these memorials within the site.

“Initial development work has commenced. This work has been restricted to the woodland area, located before the area where burials have taken place.

“We would like to reassure everybody that there has been no disturbance.”

“Copies of all available records for the cemetery have been obtained and are being analysed and cemetery maps updated, All Faiths are committed to amending designs to avoid disturbance to bodies buried in the cemetery.

“As the development moves forward All Faiths Remembrance Parks Ltd will continue to keep the community involved in the creation of this high quality facility and in the provision of the very high standards that will be achieved on the site of Calderstone Cemetery.”

Anybody with concerns about the site should email melrose.diack@btinternet.com.