AN engineering expert has called for national guidelines on the erection of memorials in cemeteries, in the light of a tragedy involving a six-year-old boy.

Structural engineer Professor John Knapton said the Government needed to issue advice on the safety standards required - as a local authority completed a programme of surveying and repairing nearly 16,000 memorials.

Prof Knapton, of Newcastle University, was speaking at a meeting of Harrogate Borough Council's community services commission, which was called to take an in-depth look at how the authority had consulted on the work.

In 1999, the council started a five-year programme of risk assessment surveys of all its cemeteries, from Harrogate to Ripon and Masham.

However, when Reuben Powell was crushed to death by a falling stone at Harrogate's Grove Road cemetery, in July 2000, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served an improvement notice on the council.

This meant all memorials in its cemeteries and closed churchyards would have to be made safe within two years.

Prof Knapton said: "The sheer size and timescale of the operation imposed by the HSE prevented the council from carrying out individual correspondence with memorial owners, which had been their intention when the original survey work began.

"In the past, all burial authorities had to rely on the expertise of memorial masons in fixing memorials. It has become obvious to the council and, indeed, all related professions that there is the need for some national guidance."

The council, together with the National Association of Memorial Masons, has devised a new way of fixing memorials firmly in place and produced guidelines which all masons working in its cemeteries will have to follow.

Prof Knapton said: "Harrogate is leading the field with their diligence over this issue, and I am sure other local authorities will wish to follow their example."

The commission has also asked for various issues to be considered at a future meeting, including legal redress for memorial owners and security in cemeteries.