EIGHTY per cent of the headstones inspected at Skipton's Waltonwrays Cemetery have failed safety tests, Craven District Council has revealed.

A survey by specialist external contractors concluded the headstones represented a danger to visitors to the burial grounds unless remedial action was taken.

The council has taken immediate steps to remedy the situation by laying down unsafe headstones and memorials while at the same time reviewing the viability of resetting dangerous headstones and memorials.

The survey is also to be extended to cover the cemeteries at St Mary's, Ingleton, and St Andrew's, Kildwick which are the responsibility of the council.

Greg Robinson, head of operational services at Craven District Council, said: "Local authorities throughout the UK have become aware of the importance of safety issues in memorial grounds following recent high-profile incidents.

"Testing is now going on all over the country and we have called in outside experts to carry out safety inspections at all our burial grounds.

"The process has just started at Waltonwrays, where a large number of headstones inspected - eight of out ten, in fact - have failed the test and been found to be unsafe.

"This is a very high percentage and while we are very disappointed to find that such a large proportion have failed the test we now have no alternative but to lay them flat, which is normal council policy as we would be liable should any accidents occur.

"It is going to take place over the next two to three weeks and people will obviously notice such activity.

"We fully realise this is an extremely sensitive issue affecting the feelings of relatives of the deceased and will be handled as sympathetically as possible to minimise distress.

"Nevertheless, we take our responsibilities very seriously and must be seen to put safety first and exercise a proper duty of care."

Mr Robinson pointed out that a total of more than 1,000 headstones will have to be inspected at the three council cemeteries and should there be a similar failure rate at Ingleton and Kildwick, the authority would be faced with having to deal with more than 800 headstones and memorials.

This would be a major undertaking in terms of both resources and cost, which could well run into six figures.

He added: "The laying down of the headstones cannot be avoided and we are anxious to make people aware of what is happening because of the considerable visual impact.

"We need to make the headstones safe in the first instance and then we will look at ways of resetting them, particularly those monuments that have major significance from a local history perspective

"I personally feel it is such a big responsibility that the project will have to be managed over the medium term. It is going to be a continuous programme. We have already taken steps to improve the standards of present-day monuments, but many of the existing ones are over 100 years old.

"Whatever standards we apply now will benefit future generations, but we have no alternative but to undertake this urgent work now by laying down headstones on safety grounds.

"In the interim, the council will pull together a programme of works and resources to see exactly what can be done to safely reset the headstones, which would again involve calling in the services of specialist outside contractors."

Council leader Coun Carl Lis added: "I can understand that this action will cause concern and families could be upset, but we have to say that health and safety is paramount."

Craven District Council has set up a special helpline for concerned relatives. The Bereavement Services Manager can be called on 01756 796118.