A WIDOW whose leukaemia-stricken son made a cross for his father's grave says she was left broken-hearted when she was ordered to remove it.

But Torfaen council insisted that, while they sympathised, the decision had been made after "careful consideration".

Ruth Ford's husband, Raymond, died on St Valentine's Day and was buried in Panteg Cemetery.

She was told she could not erect a headstone for 16 weeks to allow time for the ground to settle, so son Gary, 44, who was left deaf by four courses of chemotherapy, spent an afternoon making a wooden cross to put there temporarily.

However, Mrs Ford, 68, received a letter demanding it be taken away.

Anguished Mrs Ford, who also has two married daughters, Rosemary, 49, and Susan, 47, told the Argus: "We buried my husband a month ago and my son made a lovely cross to mark the grave. It is ever so tidy, but now they want me to go and shift it.

"If the cross was a lot of rubbish, I wouldn't say anything, but Gary worked hard on it and it was only going to be there till we could get the stone. There isn't even a number on my husband's grave so I can find it. It broke my heart to have the letter. It really knocked me for six."

Mr Ford, who lives in the Varteg, said: "If the cross was staying there for 40 years and falling apart, then I could understand it, but it is only for a couple of months. All we want is some sort of tribute to my father."

A spokeswoman for Torfaen council said they could place a vase there until the stone was erected, but the cross would have to go.

She said: "While this is understandably distressing for the Ford family, the decision not to allow wooden crosses was made after very careful consideration and close liaison with the Bereavement Services Bench- marking Group.

"Wooden crosses do not weather well and can quickly fall into a dilapidated state. We have had to consider the views of the many cemetery visitors, who find it very upsetting to visit an untidy cemetery."

* In the picture: Ruth Ford with her son Gary by the grave of her husband Raymond at Panteg Cemetery.