A GRIEVING daughter has today criticised a decision to remove decorative items adorning her mother's gravesite.

By TOM POTTER

tom.potter@eveningstar.co.uk

A GRIEVING daughter has today criticised a decision to remove decorative items adorning her mother's gravesite.

Tracey Colley, 38, of Windsor Road, took out a 50-year plot at Ipswich Cemetery when her mother, Brenda, died in 1997, but now she's been told to take down the ornamental tribute due to new health and safety practices.

Ms Colley put up a small fence around her mother's grave 18 months ago, filled it with white gravel and added items including a six-inch stone Alsatian dog.

She said: “When her birthday and Mother's Day come around I always put cards in front of her headstone. It has never been a problem and no one has ever complained about it. The items are sentimental and some of them belong to her.

“You won't find a single stray weed on her grave. If anything is rotten it gets removed immediately.”

Glenn Warren, 44, of Campbell Road, also received a letter from the council, giving him a month's notice to remove a black plastic fence and ornamental chippings from his father's gravesite.

Mr Warren tends a total of six graves at the cemetery, spending at least £30 on their upkeep every week.

He said: “It's going to break my mum's heart if they take it all away.

“I can't just ignore it and let them remove everything but if they do, I'll just replace it straight away.

An Ipswich Borough Council spokesman said: “We are currently in a period of transition where we have implemented new practices to try to maintain the high standards set.

“We have changed the way we look after the soil and area around each headstone, planted grass seed, this should help memorials remain more stable within the lawn cemetery.

“We have asked owners who have placed fences, chipping and/or planting on their graves to remove them to ensure that the lawn cemetery can be properly maintained.”

Will you be affected by the rule changes? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk