GRAVESTONES taken down as part of a purge on cemetery safety will be repaired and reinstated after Pendle Council admitted it got it wrong.

Services manager with responsibility for cemeteries Colin Patten, said there were sound reasons for the well publicised safety work, after injuries and even deaths in other parts of the country.

But he said the council had set about the work in the wrong way, especially at Barnoldswick's Ghyll Cemetery. Workmen there had started in the newest part of the cemetery, taking down small headstones only in place for a few years.

Among the headstones pushed over was the one of Paul Goodall, the West Craven charity worker murdered while on a mercy mission in Bosnia.

Relatives were left shocked and distressed by the work, some initially fearing their loved ones' grave had been vandalised.

This week Mr Patten, having visited the cemeteries and spoken with relatives, conceded it had been the wrong approach and the council needed to make amends.

"We didn't get it right and we are deeply sorry for any upset that we have caused," said Mr Patten.

"We need to get it right, but first we need to make good the damage that has been done, both the emotional damage and the actual damage to the gravestones."

He explained that after visiting Ghyll and Salterforth cemeteries - the first of Pendle Council's six cemeteries where work was due to be carried out - he immediately suspended all further activity.

Although the safety work was publicised well in advance, most people assumed it would target older and larger monuments, some leaning at precarious angles. In fact, they would be tackled later because they would require attention from skilled monumental masons.

Mr Patten explained that last weekend new letters were hand delivered to all the known owners of the 23 graves affected by the work - nine at Salterforth and 14 at Ghyll. In the letter he apologised for any distress caused, pointing out it was never the council's intention to act in an inappropriate or disrespectful way.

He also urged the families to contact him so the situation could be resolved.

Mr Patten has also instructed two reputable local monumental masons to repair and reinstate the headstones at Ghyll and Salterforth at the council's expense, work which should be completed by next weekend.

He said that safety work is still needed in the council's cemeteries, but that a complete rethink is needed on how to go about it.

"I am now reviewing the whole process and will draw up a very rigid code of practice which must be agreed and must be followed before any more work is done," he said.

Part of that code will be a standard specification for the erection of new gravestones in council cemeteries. It should ensure that all work is done to a high standard and should last for many years.

Safety inspections will still continue and the council's cemeteries will be categorised according to the perceived risk, But in a crucial turnaround, the council will now make every effort to contact the last known grave owner before any work is done, and agree how to proceed. Only in extreme cases where there is a very real and imminent danger of collapse will the council take down a monument or gravestone in the interests of public safety.

The new code of practice will be reported to and approved by the council's management committee before being put into operation.

Mr Patten added that so far, almost all the families affected by the work at Ghyll had contacted him and were generally satisfied with the outcome, but he had only received one reply from Salterforth and was awaiting more. In one case, the council had been able to repair a grave quickly so one family could visit on the anniversary of their loved one's death and everything was in order.