A number of unsafe gravestones have been identified in a South Cumbrian town’s cemetery.
Westmorland and Furness Council has installed wooden supports to help prop up the gravestones at Ulverston Cemetery on Priory Road.
Notices have also been put up saying the headstones are in a poor state of repair.
The authority said the supports were a temporary measure to allow grave owners to arrange full repairs.
It said the measures followed a number of tragedies due to unsafe headstones, including the death of four-year-old Eli Testa in Lancashire after a grave fell on him.
It added that all graves received a full visual and physical inspection, and any which posed an immediate risk were secured or laid flat.
A spokesman said: “The council has a statutory duty to maintain safety in our sites. In line with current guidelines from the Health and Safety Executive, the council surveys every headstone and memorial within cemeteries and closed churchyards on a rolling five-year programme, to ensure that they are in a stable condition and do not pose any threat or danger to visitors and staff.
“If we have current contact details for the grave owner, we will as soon as possible write to them by recorded mail to inform them of the findings and the interim actions taken.
“We allow them time then to action a repair as required; this is usually over 12 months.”
The spokesman said if there was no family willing or able to action a repair, the council would look to ensure the long-term stability and safety of the memorial, usually involving sinking the memorial into the grave slightly.
They added: “Where headstones and memorials show slight movement which is not deemed as posing an immediate risk, the grave owner is informed, and we will reinspect as required within a maximum of 12 months.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service said during its visit to the cemetery, around 70 graves had new notices in place, with some appearing to have older ones in place.
