Orkney gravestone re-erecting set to progress after training

Scores of headstones were flattened in Orkney

Gravestones which were flattened in Orkney should be re-erected more rapidly after staff undertook a series of training courses, the council said.

Orkney Islands Council apologised in February after flattening scores of gravestones in local cemeteries.

Local authorities had been asked to carry out inspections after an eight-year-old boy died when a headstone toppled onto him in Glasgow in 2015.

The council said memorial re-fixing courses had now been held.

• Council's apology over flattened headstones

• Boy's headstone death 'was avoidable'

The earlier work had been criticised by bereaved families, many of whom had not been notified the work would be taking place.

The local authority said the stones laid down were deemed unsafe, but then pledged to re-erect some of them.

Courses organised by a Glasgow-based training provider have now been held in Orkney.

The three-day courses were attended by five Orkney Islands Council employees, one Shetlands Islands Council employee, and four private contractors.