Fury over burial plot demand

A GRIEVING son is today fighting against a demand for a further £500 to keep his parents' burial plot.

Barry Steward has branded the burial leasing system at Ipswich cemetery unethical after being asked to pay £525.71 to keep exclusive rights to the plot and stop anyone else being buried there.

Mr Steward, 57, of Carlton Road, Kesgrave, was shocked when he was told by Ipswich Borough Council that exclusive rights to the plot where his parents' ashes are buried would expire on July 23.

To renew the rights would cost him £209.50 for a further ten years or £525.71 for 20 years.

Mr Steward, whose father died 25 years ago and mother three years ago, was furious to discover that if he doesn't pay up his parents plot could be resold and used by someone else.

His marble stone memorial with his parents names jointly inscribed could be removed and the plot would belong to someone else.

Mr Steward said: “I understand that they can't take the ashes away but I find it very strange that they can go on to sell the plot and put someone else's ashes there as well.

“So, you could have a situation where a complete stranger is going to a grave where my father's ashes are buried along with Fred Bloggs across the street.”

Mr Steward said that he wouldn't know how to explain to his relatives that he wasn't prepared to pay another £500 to keep it.

Mr Steward said: “The council must be making a fair bit out of this and I think that a lot more could be done to explain to people about the leasing system.

“I think it's unethical.”

A spokesman for Ipswich Borough Council said: “We are sorry that Mr Steward is distressed but we can assure him that although the lease system is standard throughout the country, his parents ashes will never be moved regardless of whether the lease is renewed.”

Do you think relatives should be asked to pay more money every 25 years? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.