A TOPPLE Tester is to be used to ensure gravestones are safe in Monmouthshire cemeteries, councillors decided.

There was a huge outcry last year from relatives in Abergavenny and Gilwern whose relatives' gravestones had been laid flat by the county council amid safety fears.

An audit of all the county council's cemeteries was undertaken following an accident to a Monmouth pensioner who was slightly injured when a headstone fell on her leg in June 2002.

Safety checks followed last year in Llanfoist and Llanelly cemeteries and in St Mary's Church, Usk, and following complaints from distressed relatives, the council set up a cemeteries working group.

Now they have recommended buying a Topple Tester and Topple Mate - and this was agreed by the cabinet, together with 50 Makesafe units for stones which are found to be loose, at a total cost of £3,450.

Councillor Andre Arkell said letters will not be sent to relatives when safety checks are carried out in cemeteries in future, but there will be advertisements carried in the local newspapers.

Area manager Tim MacDermott said checks caused a lot of distress to the bereaved.

He said legally the council can move dangerous headstones to another position, and suggested they be catalogued if relatives had not been traced in six months.