Cemetery acts after break-ins
Alarms and CCTV costing £34,000 are to be installed at two Dudley crematoriums following a spate of grave thefts and chapel break-ins, it has been revealed.
Alarms and CCTV costing £34,000 are to be installed at two Dudley crematoriums following a spate of grave thefts and chapel break-ins, it has been revealed.
Mourners were dismayed this week when Dudley Council announced plans to close Gornal Wood and Stourbridge crematorium chapels at weekends, but the move is a boost to grieving relatives who have backed a campaign for increased security at the cemeteries.
Council chiefs added the decision would be reviewed once new security was installed at the crematoriums.
It acted following a spate of break-ins and vandalism at Stourbridge Crematorium chapel, in South Road.
Families also launched a campaign for extra security at Gornal Wood Crematorium, in Chase Road, after a string of thefts from loved ones' graves.
Councillor Karen Shakespeare, Dudley Council's cabinet member for environment and culture said: "This is something we have been looking at doing for some time.
"We are hoping to be able to open the chapels at the weekends again when the security is installed, but that will be a judgement call we will have to make at that point.
"We have to consider the risks and we really don't want anyone turning up for a funeral on a Monday and finding the chapel has been vandalised.
"At the same time, I absolutely appreciate that people use the chapel to have a little private moment or write in the book of remembrance.
"I am just astounded by the things that have happened at the churchyards. It does make you wonder whether people have any respect at all."
Councillor Shakespeare does not yet know when the additional security would be in place.
Raiders have targeted the chapel in Stourbridge twice in little over a month, snatching computers, drills and personal items.
Gill Bagley, who has collected more than 2,000 signatures in support of her campaign for security improvements at Gornal Wood, welcomed the news.
Mrs Bagley's daughter Paula's grave has been repeatedly targeted by thieves and the 43-year-old, of Pensnett, said: "It's good news. It really is about time they did something."
Last year new fencing was installed at Stourbridge Crematorium to make the grounds more secure following a series of thefts from graves.
Police have also upgraded patrols around the site.
