TWO grieving Radcliffe students may have to tear down their floral tribute to their late father.

Bury Council says the 9ft by 4ft memorial garden and others in the borough's cemeteries are too big and contravene the authority's 1997 cemetery regulations.

The rule is that memorial gardens should be only one metre square - to maintain the "aesthetic quality and accessibility" of cemeteries.

Emily and Nicola Sobey have been asked to reduce their father's memorial garden, which they have carefully tended since Mark, aged 38, died after a long illness in June last year.

The girls, of Donnington Road, Radcliffe, paid £800 for the plot of land at Radcliffe Cemetery. They are still waiting to receive the grave contract which, according to cemetery bosses, details the requirements for memorial gardens. Nicola, 20, said: "My family are devastated by Bury Council's request. We have been allowed to tend my father's grave for months and are trying to make it into a fitting tribute to him.

"The council said nothing of these requirements when we purchased the burial plot and the grave was left unturfed after the funeral."

Her sister Emily, 18, added: " Now we have been told to reduce its size by the end of April. If not, the council will do it anyway."

Only those oversized gardens created after the introduction of the Cemetery Regulations will be subject to the reduction request.

Mr Martin Hall, head of client services, said: "All families with graves at Radcliffe Cemetery have been sent a letter detailing our request for non-conforming memorial garden plots to be reduced in size. We will gauge the reactions of families before deciding what to do next."

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