Council's gravestone error angers grieving husband
A GRIEVING husband was deeply upset when the council pushed over his late wife's gravestone without informing him.
East Riding Council workers at Bridlington Cemetery pushed over the headstone of Gillian Beevers, who died in November 2009, because it was judged unsafe.
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ERROR: The cemetery in Sewerby Road, Bridlington, where Ernie Beevers's late wife's gravestone was laid down by mistake. Picture: Simon Kench
The council has now admitted the gravestone was laid down in error and is repairing damage to the headstone.
Mrs Beevers's husband Ernie, 71, still visits the grave at least three times a week.
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He said: "I was angry but upset as well, because I thought there should have been nothing wrong with the stone.
"If it had been 25 years old I could have understood."
The stone was pushed over on Friday morning.
After Mr Beevers saw what had happened to it, he complained to the council.
He then called his son and they went to see the gravestone at 5.30pm – only to find it had been taken away.
Mr Beevers spent an anxious weekend worrying over its whereabouts.
Then on Monday, the council told him it had been taken away for repairs.
He said: "Nobody informed me until Monday morning that it had been taken for repairs across the road.
"All weekend I was worried where the stone had gone.
"It wasn't right that I had to wait two-and-a-half days before I found out what had happened."
His wife's gravestone cost Mr Beevers about £3,000.
It is made of black marble with gold lettering picking out her name.
The widower said: "It was just upsetting all weekend not knowing where it was.
"But the council are putting it back together again."
East Riding Council has apologised to Mr Beevers and accepted the stone should not have been pushed over in the first place.
John Skidmore, head of streetscene services at East Riding Council, said: "The council carries out safety checks on headstones within East Riding cemeteries in order to reduce the risk of accidents involving unstable or weakened headstones.
"Checks, and any subsequent works, are carried out in a sensitive and appropriate manner and any headstones found to be in an unstable condition are made safe with supporting stakes and are only laid flat as a last resort.
"Once the headstone is inspected, the council contacts the families or deed-holders of those that require attention, advising that they engage a stone mason to carry out the necessary repair works."
Because Mrs Beevers's stone should not have been pushed over, the council is paying the £150 to have it repaired.
Mr Skidmore said: "During recent safety checks at Sewerby Road cemetery, the headstone of Gillian Beevers was found to be unstable and was laid flat by council inspectors, rather than being staked.
"It was unclear whether this action had caused further damage to the base fixings.
"After speaking to Mr Beevers, the council apologised for any distress that may have been caused and agreed to cover the cost of having the stone repinned and reinstated."
Comments
by PerrryFarrrel
Thursday, September 13 2012, 8:15AM
“Do headstones generally fall over on their own.
Councils are making huge cutbacks in important public services but they can afford an engineer whose job it is to go round checking if grave stones are a bit wobbly”
by harryoffdock2
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 7:13PM
“A lot of these council safety checks are completely unnecessary.
I would of thought it doesn't need a civil engineering brain to realise that a modern headstone, such as they are nowadays, has a very low centre of gravity and would be hardly likely to fall over on to a passer by, some of the older Victorian type's maybe, but not these.
It could be construed as H&S gone mad or collusion with the memorial companies.
Oh and don't worry about it Mr Skidmore, it's not your own cash you are wasting, just the poor tax payer again.”
by Sirlaffalot
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 9:21AM
“Well which was it, was it 'pushed down' or 'laid down'?
I suppose the admission of the council that they are going to repair the damage would point to the former, so how come they are not being prosecuted for criminal damage? After all if a member of the public had done it irrespective of whether it was dangerous or not they would have had an interview without coffee with plod.”
by dontwo
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 8:32AM
“Its ok John Skidmore apologising and making out its a grand gesture to pay for the repairs, then saying "The council carries out safety checks on headstones". What he really ought to concentrate more on is carrying out checks why the communication and liason within his department is so amateurish, then check into how his staff are trained when carrying out these important inspections, and finally check out who was actually responsible why Mr Beevers had to wait an agonising two and a half days before being told what had happened to his wifes headstone.”