A PENSIONER has criticised council policy after a family gravestone was vandalised at Warrington Cemetery.

Dorothy Foster, of Stringer Crescent, was shocked to discover that only weeks after the council had taken down the memorial, which it said was unsafe, the cross had been smashed into two pieces.

Distraught Dorothy claims the cross was not unsafe and the council had no right to take it down.

She said: "Each time I'd been to the grave I'd weed and clean the stone and the cross was perfectly secure. I would have seen to it myself if I'd found it to be loose."

She believes that laying the memorial on the ground made it more vulnerable to vandals.

She said: "I was shocked when I found the cross had been taken down. But it was devastating next time when I returned to find the cross broken in two. I am only a pensioner and I can't afford to pay for it to be fixed."

A council spokesman said memorials were the responsibility of grave owners but they were required to ensure their safety.

A statement issued by the council said: "Each memorial found to be in imminent danger is laid flat and a label attached advising visitors of its condition and giving the relevant contact number at the council.

"This has been an onerous task and Warrington Borough Council's first priority was the safety of all those who use the cemeteries."

But the council's policy is of little comfort to Dorothy and her family: "The first person to be buried in the grave was my uncle who fought for King and country in the First World War only to die of wounds at the age of 20 years. He can't even rest in peace. He is violated yet again in death by the people he fought and died for."

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