A PROGRAMME to repair memorial headstones at local cemeteries is on target to be completed by May.

Craven District Council said this week that excellent progress was being made to reinstate headstones at four cemeteries and churchyards in the district.

More than two years ago, the council responded to concerns about the safety of memorial stones nationally by laying down headstones more than one metre high.

This affected cemeteries at Waltonwrays, Skipton, and Ingleton and churchyards in Ingleton and Kildwick.

The reinstatement programme started in September 2004 after the council appointed specialist monumental masons Parkin and Jackson Ltd to undertake the work.

All 70 headstones which were laid down at Ingleton have been reinstated, 19 memorials at Kildwick have been repaired and 250 out of 350 laid down at Waltonwrays in Skipton have also been reinstated.

The 100 remaining headstones in Skipton will be repaired and reinstated by the end of May.

And, at the end of this month, a five-year rolling programme of work will start to test and repair all memorials at council-run cemeteries and churchyards.

This will include those memorials which are considered to be lower risk because they are less than one metre high, but need to be checked regularly for safety reasons.

The programme will cost £25,000 a year - or around £120,000 in total - the majority of which will be funded by Craven District Council, but with contributions from Skipton Town Council (£15,000) and Ingleton Parish Council (£1,500).

The work is considered essential to secure public safety, but also to preserve local heritage by retaining monuments which have local or even national historical significance.

While testing and repair work is being carried out, care will be taken to respect the feelings of bereaved relatives and friends and information will be provided throughout the process.

Officials at Craven's Bereavement Services will also be contacting parish councils and churches to see whether they want to use the council's contractor to carry out testing in burial ground for which they are responsible.

Signs will be posted in cemeteries for at least 28 days prior to work starting.

A special open day has been arranged at Waltonwrays Cemetery on March 21 to explain what is going to happen.

Then a further two-week period will be allowed to provide an opportunity for bereaved relatives to contact specialist masons and voice any concerns.

Craven district councillor Paul English, chairman of the community service committee which commissioned the work, said: "We have been very conscious of the impact on bereaved relatives of memorial headstones being laid flat and the need to get these all reinstated as quickly as possible.

"However, given the sensitivity of the task, the locations involved, and the need to preserve the district's heritage, the process could not be rushed.

"The repair work required individual specialist treatment by craftsmen working sometimes in difficult weather conditions.

"All things considered, we are pleased with the progress that has been made on this important work to reinstate the headstones considered to be a higher risk to public safety."