A COUNCIL chief has been suspended amid allegations that gravestones in a Padiham churchyard were pulled out of the ground and smashed.

Lee Thorne, Burnley Council's Bereavement and Customer Services Manager in the Parks Services Unit, has been suspended on full pay pending a disciplinary investigation into the allegations.

The suspension follows suggestions that headstones in St Leonard's Cemetery were laid down and broken, a move which fails to comply with health and safety procedures.

Mr Thorne may now face a disciplinary hearing over the allegations.

Staff at Burnley Council's parks department launched an investigation earlier this month after it was revealed several grave headstones in the churchyard, which is maintained by the council on behalf of the church, had been vandalised.

Burnley Council's head of park services today confirmed the suspension of Mr Thorne and said it was part of their investigation into the breaking of headstones at St Leonard's.

In an internal memo Simon Goff, the council's park services manager, said: "Lee Thorne, the council's Bereavement and Customer Services Manager in the Parks Services Unit, has been suspended on full pay, pending a disciplinary investigation.

"The suspension follows an allegation of the laying down and breaking of headstones in St Leonard's Cemetery, and in doing so, a failure to follow health and safety procedures.

"I will lead the investigation, and, if necessary, a disciplinary hearing will be held in due course."

St Leonard's Church vicar, the Rev Mark Jones, said it was a "regrettable incident" but said the council had promised him that the stones would be replaced as soon as possible.

He said: "The council has done a survey of the damage and it is carrying out an investigation into what happened and keeping me informed.

"It's just a bit of a mystery how it happened. I was told about it by someone from the council and it happened during the day.

" I don't think they are headstones belonging to recent graves. They are quite old and probably don't have living relatives."

Cameron Collinge will take over management of the Bereavement Service on a temporary basis until the disciplinary hearing is complete.