Grieving relatives told Hollybrook Cemetery memorials will be removed

Rowan Leach added decorations to her baby son's grave

Grieving relatives have criticised council orders to remove "unauthorised" memorials from graves at a Southampton cemetery.

The city council has written to families saying fencing, wind chimes, solar lighting or lamps must be removed for health and safety reasons.

Rowan Leach, whose baby son is buried in the graveyard, said the move was "victimising" grieving relatives.

The council said it would "balance the needs of all cemetery users".

Ms Leach, 20, put up a low fence around the grave of her son, Hadley, who died last year aged six weeks.

She decorated it with pebbles, flowers, bunnies, lights and lanterns and insisted it was within the council's own guidelines.

Baby Hadley died in September 2017

Ms Leach said: "I just want it to be really personal to him because it's his space and that's all we have left.

"To me a pile of mud isn't very nice, I wanted to make it nice to look at," she added.

An online petition set up by Ms Leach has so far had more than 3,500 signatures.

Yvonne Cronin also put low level fencing around the grave of her late husband Michael as an alternative to expensive stonework.

"We put fencing round just to mark out where he is resting. There are an awful lot of dogs up. I just feel the fencing keeps him safe," she said.

A city council statement said it encouraged people to "personalise" memorials within its guidelines.

"We are not asking family members and friends visiting graves to remove personal items, just items such as wooden fencing, solar lights, glassware or wind chimes which either pose a health and safety risk for the grounds maintenance team working within the cemeteries or noise and light from these items which may cause a disturbance to residents living in close proximity to the cemetery."