THE district council is fighting back against relatives who are seeking compensation after graves were laid down in Bromsgrove's cemeteries.

Officers will present a report to councillors at a meeting tonight (Wednesday) which they say shows Bromsgrove District Council 'acted properly and reasonably', when it laid the memorials down for safety reasons.

There was a storm of protest when grieving relatives found their loved-one's graves had been laid down.

Officers accept memorials with untraceable owners may represent historic significance to Bromsgrove.

And they ask councillors to consider a £40,000 two-year funding plan to look after the old memorials.

The fund could come, in part, from historical societies, such as the Victorian Society, officers suggest.

Officers blame the insecurity of the memorials on the 'poor standards of workmanship carried out by the stonemasons who erected the memorials' and state it was the council's duty to act swiftly when a danger to the public became apparent.

But stonemasons say sub-standard foundation slabs supplied by the council caused the problems.

Dave Bright, of S Bright and Son Memorials, said: "We would like to make the public aware that all workmanship was carried out to regulations in force at that time."

They have recommended the introduction of a memorial masons registration scheme and a requirement that ground anchors be fitted to memorials erected on slabs in the lawn-style sections of Bromsgrove cemetery.

Graves campaigner Andrew Nash said: "The inadequate management of the cemeteries over the years has caused the problems we are now seeing."

In the report, corporate director Bob Lewis says: "It is a matter of regret that the action taken in relation to memorials in the cemetery had to be taken but it was necessary and reasonable in the context of the duties and responsibilities placed on the council."