A COUNCIL faces a £65,000 bill to repair 300 unsafe gravestones in its cemeteries.

Nationally, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has raised concerns about the safety of the country's graveyards and cemeteries, following five deaths in as many years caused by unstable memorials.

As a result, Chester-le-Street District Council completed an inspection of 7,300 gravestones and found more than 1,500 were unsafe.

The headstones are the responsibility of the relatives of the person buried, but the council has been able to contact less than a quarter of those responsible for the unsafe memorials.

If relatives cannot be found the council will have to foot the bill itself.

Memorials needing attention have either had notices stuck to them, saying the stones need repair, or have been laid flat on the ground.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones said: "The problem Chester-le-Street is having, is a lot of the stones are historical, so they can't even find who owns them or even if relatives are still alive.

"Some of the gravestones are quite big structures and the council is liable for a duty of care, to ensure they are safe."

Similar gravestone inspections have been taking place in other districts of the North-East.

At the cemetery in Tanfield, near Stanley, Derwentside District Council has stopped its workmen from cutting the grass because it said there are so many unsafe headstones in the patch.

The council, which recently took over the running of the cemetery, is also trying to contact families with responsibility for the headstones to make them safe.

In the meantime, orange plastic has been stuck on to gravestones and the grass has been left uncut which has upset some residents who say the cemetery looks untidy.

A spokesman for Derwentside District Council said it was in talks with the church council to try and find a solution to the problem.

He said: "The gravestones are the property of the family and that's where the problem lies with getting them repaired."