Mourning relatives clashed with council and police officers over the removal of headstone tributes at a Stockport cemetery.
There was a large police presence at Mill Lane Cemetery on Wednesday morning (December 8) as angry family members protested the removal of tributes at gravestones in the Manchester Road cemetery.
Last month the MEN reported that grieving families were left outraged after being asked to remove small gardens built next to the headstones of loved ones.
While residents argued that some of the gardens at Mill Lane Cemetery have been well cared for for more than a decade, Stockport Council bosses said they are asking the owners to follow a policy they signed up to by removing them — and the vast majority of bereaved families adhere to it already.
In a statement, Coun Sheila Bailey added that 'it is clear that there is an overwhelming desire that Mill Lane Cemetery must continue to be a lawned cemetery as it was originally designed to be'.
However, some of the irate bereaved family members at the gate lambasted the decision to send in the bailiffs just before Christmas.
Kelly Pullen from Cheadle rushed to the cemetery after finding out about the news.
With multiple family members buried at the cemetery she said she was 'distraught' at the scene.
She said: "I'm distraught that they're even doing this just before Christmas.
"We own rights to those graves, we paid for our loved ones to be buried so we should be able to do what we want with them.
"This is a place that brings us comfort, we've decorated the graves of our loved ones and they're taking that away.
"It's the fact about all the police presence, have they not got anything else to do?"
Another family member, Gaynor Bradburn whose mother has been buried in the cemetery for 14 years, described the incident as 'horrendous'.
She said: “I’ve been sent a live video and it’s absolutely horrendous. It’s heart-breaking, they’re not letting anybody in and everybody’s obviously very very angry and upset.
“It’s absolutely disgusting that they can do that. To have the amount of police there is unbelievable, it’s absolutely horrendous."
Throughout the morning, a small crowd of angry grave-owners gathered at the gate to the cemetery, remonstrating with enforcement officers.
Some were allowed inside to collect their belongings, but clashes between the two groups meant access was restricted.
At one point, a grieving father had to be restrained by police officers in a heated exchange.
Despite the clashes, no arrests were made by the police present, a GMP spokesperson told the MEN.
Council bosses defended today's action, saying families had been asked to remove the gardens previously.
Councillor Sheila Bailey, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Stockport, said: “We understand that all families have their own unique ways of remembering their loved ones and that personal items and ornaments can hold dear memories. Each grave has an area around the headstone where such items can be placed. Over recent years however we have seen larger tributes, gardens or borders established at some graves in Mill Lane Cemetery.
"Many people have told us that they chose Mill Lane as the final resting place for their loved one specifically because it was a lawned cemetery, but the increasing number of gardens or tributes built out in front of graves means that this is no longer the case. The original design of Mill Lane as a lawned cemetery is explained when a family is considering Mill Lane Cemetery and when a grave is purchased.
"We understand that this is an extremely emotive issue and we have been in contact with grave owners since 2018, when they were written to, to ask that gardens, borders or ornaments be removed. Many people responded to this request and since then we have sought to engage with individual grave owners where we know gardens or larger displays have been placed. We have also spoken to a wide range of groups and individuals who visit Mill Lane.
"We subsequently wrote to a number of grave owners in June and October of this year who had not yet removed borders or ornaments and tributes and some have since been cleared. We have carefully considered all the views presented to us over recent years and it is clear that there is an overwhelming desire that Mill Lane Cemetery must continue to be a lawned cemetery as it was originally designed to be.
"The council want to ensure that Mill Lane will continue to be maintained as a lawned cemetery in line with the wishes of the majority of people who visit and are pleased that people have removed items today and thank them for their cooperation. We will be removing the remaining items in the near future. The council is determined to ensure that the rules which are followed by the vast majority of grave owners are followed by everyone.”
