NEGLECTED and vandalised gravestones could be pulled up if the relatives of people buried in Preston cemetery fail to come forward.

Environmental health chiefs have issued a 'improve or remove' message to families and friends because some of the 40,000 headstones in Preston Cemetery are crumbling to the point of being a danger to the public.

Letters have been sent to people who have paid for headstones, asking them to tend to the damage.

But the problem of maintaining headstones is being made more difficult by vandals, who have toppled around ten per cent of them in the past two weeks.

Preston Council's chief environmental officer Helen Freeman, who is investigating the vandalism, said: "We're very concerned about this problem because the public have access to all the areas in a cemetery. We don't want any serious accidents to happen."

The council is co-ordinating a survey, asking people what they think about the state of headstones at the New Hall Lane cemetery, in Preston.

Bad weather and vandalism are said to be contributing to the deterioration.

Helen added: "Some headstones have been seriously affected and it's our job to ensure the cemetery is a safe place to visit.

"We are aware that this is a sensitive issue so we feel that giving people six months to make improvements is long enough."

Helen is also concerned that some people with responsibility for the headstones may have moved from the area.

"Every headstone has an owner but over the years people move away and the responsibility falls to someone else - we want these people to contact the cemetery so we can talk to them."

Anyone who is worried about a headstone should call Preston Cemetery on 794585.

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