Safety checks on graves will take place in town

Arun District Council will shortly start testing all the graves in Town Cross Cemetery.

A local authority has a duty of care under the health and safety rules to ensure any risk in a cemetery is properly managed.

Arun will be making inspections of all memorials to ensure their stability; the council only test memorials for stability by hand.

If memorials are found to be unstable and not present an immediate risk, a letter will be sent to the owner of the grave using the last known address to inform them the memorial is in need of attention.

Graves will only be laid down when it is considered there is an immediate and genuine risk.

This will be done with the utmost care and respect.

A letter will also be sent to the individual owner of the grave at their last known address informing them of what has been done.

This work is part of an ongoing programme of memorial testing in all cemeteries for which Arun District Council has responsibility.

Owners of a grave are responsible for providing Arun with any change of details or updates for the official records.

You can contact the council’s cemeteries department on 01903 737954.