Kirk Hallam church tells mourners to remove items from graves

Rev Christine French said the move would help keep the area safe and tidy

A church has defended its decision to ask people to remove ornaments and tributes from their loved ones' graves.

Officials at All Saints Church in Kirk Hallam, near Ilkeston in Derbyshire, said it had decided to enforce long-standing rules to keep its graveyard safe and tidy.

They said there had been incidents in which people tripped on items that should not be there.

However, some mourners said the move had upset them.

The Reverend Christine French, All Saints' vicar, said: "To make it safe for everyone, we put up a notice asking people if they could remove things that were not authorised off the graves.

"We haven't actually moved anything yet ourselves. We have just asked people to come and take things away."

The church said the rules would also make it easier to maintain the graveyard

A box has been placed near the church for people to put items they no longer want in, but the church is encouraging people to take them home.

It said its rules allowed for real flowers in the summer and ones made of silk in the colder months.

It also said clearing tributes would make it easier for volunteers to keep the area neat and tidy.

However Michael Williams, whose grandmother Sheila is buried in the churchyard, said the ruling "had not gone down very well".

"My granddad has cancer and he's not well," he said. "The stress of having to take his wife's grave apart is enough to finish him off.

"It's not fair. A lot of people cannot get down to the graveyard so I am maintaining their graveyards for them as well."