A VILLAGE church is planning to flatten gravestones unless money can be found to make them safe.

Following a review at All Saints' Parish, Glazebury, over 50 old headstones and memorials have been found to be in a dangerous condition.

If money is not found to carry out remedial work the stones, which have been affected by subsidence, will be laid down on the graves.

The churchyard committee is seeking contributions in a bid to carry out remedial work and is trying to contact families who own the graves affected.

Member Jill Cruikshank, who is cataloguing the whole churchyard, said it is mainly the Victorian graves at the front of the church and along the paths, which are causing a problem.

She said some of the graves are 150 years old and estimates three years ago to fix just 13 of the stones were put at £1,280.

She said: "The church can't afford to pay to restore them in an upright position, so if money is not forthcoming we shall have to lay them flat with the epitaphs showing. We are trying to contact relatives to let them know what is going to happen and if they want to pay to have the stone restored upright it is up to them.

"Sadly most of these graves have been untended for a long time and it is the ones with crosses that are the most unsafe.

"The stones are in the older section of the churchyard, the last interment being 1945 or earlier, and failure to do the work will mean that some will have to be laid flat. Concerned church members would rather that this was not the case and are looking for funding to renovate those stones involved and improve the current appearance of the churchyard."

The following family names are involved: Adamson, Ashton, Bandy, Barnet, Baxter, Bent, Blackburn, Boardman, Cleworth, Collier, Dean, Evans, Feather, Flitcroft, Green, Gregson, Hampson, Hayes, Hilton, Hindley, Hodson, Howarth, Jameson, Johnson, Leather, Leigh, Lightfoot, Maddock, Marsh, Massey, Mills, Mort, Oddy, Parr, Pomfret, Potts, Rawlinson, Rigby, Royle, Seddon, Shaw, Shuttleworth, Smith, Speakman, Stout, Taylor, Turner, Urmston, Wall, Warburton, Wareing, Wild, Winstanley, Wood.

Anyone who wants details of stone inscriptions or would like to contribute to the costs of the project should contact the vicar Mrs Pat Grey on 01942 603161 or Jill on 01925 764704.