SECURITY may be stepped up in two cemeteries after gravestones were vandalised and mementoes stolen.

Councillors yesterday discussed the possibility of committing £19,000 a year to pay for security patrols at Eston and Redcar cemeteries.

The move follows reports that soft toys, flowers and precious mementoes from children's graves have been stolen and vandalism is on the increase at Redcar cemetery. There have also been complaints of memorials being pushed over, litter strewn on grave plots and dogs allowed to foul the area.

A report to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said that Eston and Redcar cemeteries are the worst effected because they are unlit, hard to observe from the highway and are used as short cuts and meeting places. The discussion document was drawn up after Liberal Democrat councillor Mary Ovens highlighted the worsening problem in Redcar.

Councillors on the community safety and social inclusion scrutiny committee discussed two options. The first was to earmark £13,000 to provide extra gates and to ensure they are locked from dusk to dawn. However, the report noted vandals could still access the cemeteries with relative ease.

The second option was to provide £19,000 a year to pay for a patrol of the cemeteries between 9pm and midnight when most of the vandalism occurs. The document will now be put to members of the executive committee.

Brian Hogg, lead councillor for environmental services, said the document was partly designed to encourage more ideas. He said: "There are a number of issues to discuss, like what to do with the empty properties we have in some of our eight cemeteries and what we can do to prevent people allowing their dogs to foul the place."

Last year Caroline Millward, whose 18-year-old son, Mark, died in a car accident six years ago, mobilised the people of Eston to fight the thieves and vandals after flowers were taken from Mark's grave. She explained that reading a graveside letter to the thieves from a 20-year-old mother whose baby had died was the last straw. Speaking this week she said: "We still need support from the council on this."