Test failure headstones not repaired
More than 300 headstones at a South Staffordshire church that failed controversial "topple" tests nearly two years ago are still propped up with stakes, the Express & Star can reveal today.
Around another 100 memorials at St Benedict Biscop churchyard in Wombourne have been repaired. The district council undertook safety tests throughout the late summer of 2007, leading to memorials that moved when pressure was applied being secured with posts and tape.
Back then more than 1,000 relatives of people buried at St Benedict Biscop churchyard demanded the tests on memorials be stopped.
Families feared the 35kg (77lb) pressure used in the tests was too strong but the council was later cleared of any wrongdoing in a report by the Diocese of Lichfield.
A total of 463 stones failed the safety tests, of which 98 have been repaired and 365 remain stabilised.
It had been feared those not repaired within two years were at risk of being lain flat, but council chiefs today revealed they will remain stabilised until a new policy on the issue has been drawn up.
South Staffordshire Council spokesman Jamie Angus said: "I can confirm that 98 headstones have been repaired at the graveyard of St Benedict Biscop Church in Wombourne and that 365 remain stabilised.
"The council will continue to follow recommended guidance on cemetery safety and where such guidance changes, the council's policy will be considered accordingly.
"Those headstones which remain stabilised will continue to be so until the council has approved and adopted a revised policy on memorial safety testing."
Because the memorials are the property of the relatives who paid for them it was deemed to be their responsibility to pay for any work.
