SOME Dursley residents have expressed concern at finding gravestones laid down in Kingshill Cemetery.

But Dursley Town Council said the headstones have been laid down flat to protect visitors from the dangers of toppling stones.

A council spokesman said: "There are a lot of health and safety risks with a cemetery and lots of legislation.

"The biggest risk is injury, or worse, due to a headstone toppling over.

"In accordance with best practice, we check every headstone in the cemetery to ensure they are safe, our grounds staff are trained for this inspection.

"Any loose headstones are laid flat down to prevent an injury or accident.

"This can be quite a task if it is an old larger headstone and, sometimes, we have to employ a memorial mason to carry this out.

"Where possible, we contact the owners of the grave to inform them that the headstone has been laid flat.

"It is then the legal responsibility of the grave owner to repair or reinstall the headstone.

"We also fix a notice to each headstone informing the owner why it is laid down.

"Unfortunately, we don't always have up to date contact information so it is not always possible to contact the owner."

Only qualified memorial masons are permitted to carry out repair works in the cemetery.