A NEW approach is set to be taken to the repair and maintenance of headstones in Middlesbrough cemeteries.

The move follows recent issues with memorials that had become unsafe, and is designed to ensure the safety of members of the public.

At a meeting next week (Friday, September 4) councillors will consider proposed updates to the authority's policy for the testing, repair and maintenance of headstones in cemeteries and closed churchyards.

Under national guidance all headstones and similar memorials should be safety tested on a regular cycle to minimise risk to members of the public, employees, contractors and volunteers.

The council currently undertakes a rolling five-year testing programme, but this policy will now be updated in response to recommendations from the Institute for Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM).

Councillor Tracy Harvey, Middlesbrough Council’s executive member for environment, said: “Graveyards are places of peaceful reflection and remembrance, and are greatly valued by those who visit them.

“It is however vital that they remain safe, and the issue of unstable headstones is one that is being addressed in cemeteries across the country.

“These proposed revisions to our existing policy will ensure we minimise the risk of injury or worse in our cemeteries and churchyards in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.”

Under the existing ‘topple testing’ policy, around a fifth of headstones are tested each year over a five-year period, with all those that fail are either repaired or laid flat.

Over the past four years 224 headstones have failed the topple test, with the approach costing an average of £40,000 per year.

The proposed new policy will see headstones given one of three grades, with only those considered to be dangerous and likely to cause significant injury or death being made safe.