A COUNCIL has ruled out footing the bill for thousands of Burnley and Padiham gravestones deemed unsafe.

Burnley Council earlier this year decided that families who could be traced should pay for memorials that needed essential work to be made safe.

And now bosses have refused to budge from their position - despite one neighbouring council hinting it is ready to cover the costs.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson told the House of Commons earlier this month that she had been told by officials at Blackburn with Darwen Council that they were ready to scrap charging families for fixing unsafe gravestones.

But a Burnley Council spokesman confirmed: “We are not aware of any changes to the legislation of who is responsible for paying for the making safe of headstones.”

He said the council had a duty to explain to families the procedure of making gravestones safe but the owners would have to foot the bill.

The council’s Labour group leader, Julie Cooper, said: “It is a difficult one and the cash has to come from somewhere but I would like to see the council or the Government giving assistance to people who cannot pay for the repairs.

“If it was a relation of mine and I could not afford it I would be upset by it.”

In May, senior Burnley councillors agreed to tell around 900 families in Burnley and Padiham that could be traced that they must pay to secure the safety of their relatives’ gravestones.

The cost of the operation was estimated at between £17 and £120, depending on the state of the tombs, and poorer families would be offered some assistance. Further examinations of graves at the Rossendale Road cemetery are set to continue in the new year.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is expected to confirm it will in future pay for gravestone repairs following Government guidance, expected to be issued soon.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The Ministry of Justice is in discussion with interested parties in the burial industry - including local authorities, the insurance industry, the burial industry and the Health and Safety Executive - to develop guidelines on memorial safety. This will be published as soon as possible.

"Responsibility for the maintenance of the cemetery lies with the local council which runs it. Maintenance of the graves is primarily the responsibility of the owner but can and often is undertaken on their behalf by the council.”