FEARS over the safety of graves in a churchyard has caused panic among relatives after a risk assessment highlighted potential dangers in stones only around 20 years old.

More than 50 graves – many dating back just a few years but with most from the 1990s – were earmarked for attention at the churchyard in Bedale next to the ancient church of St Gregory’s.

But relatives knew nothing about the problems until they turned up and found tape wound around the gravestones with notices telling them memorial safety testing had been taking place and to contact the Burial Board

One elderly resident who asked not to be named said: "It’s disgraceful, many people still may not know their relatives grave is a problem, unless they go regularly. And we are still waiting to see exactly what the issue is.

“You expect gravestones to last for years, but most of these were from around 1996 and they don’t seem at all loose or dislodged, we don’t see how they could be a danger. This could well affect many, many other graveyards all over the place.”

Bedale, Aiskew, Leeming Bar and Burrill Joint Burial Authority, whis runs the churchyard, did not respond to requests for a comment.

The Rector of Bedale, Rev Ian Robinson, who is a member of the Bedale Burial Board said he knew nothing of the problems until people started to contact him.

He added: “Specialists have been appointed to inspect all the gravestones to ensure public safety.

"It follows an accident in Scotland where a child was crushed by a falling stone in a graveyard, so anything that could be considered a risk is being marked off.

"Anything that was found to need work was taped – I was surprised when I saw so many stones had been marked.

“Health and safety is much more of an issue now and we have to carry out risk assessments . The thing is people will look at other much older graves which may be leaning over, but they are dug deeper into the ground, and so are not a risk.

“It seems to be gravestones from the 80s and 90s, some fall between the traditional style of embedding and new styles with steel rods. The burial board is meeting next week and we’re hoping to have a report on what the problems are."

Anyone with concerns is advised to contact the burial board at jbauthority@googlemail.com