Work to remove hundreds of headstones at cemetery slammed as 'disrespectful'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Paisley woman has slammed the council for its ‘disrespectful’ cemetery works which has resulted in hundreds of headstones being removed without notifying loved ones.Yvonne Goldie says she was shocked when she visited her grandparents' grave in Hawkhead Cemetery on Mother's Day to find the headstone had been removed and laid flat on the ground without her knowledge.A sign had been left in its place saying the headstone was considered a ‘hazard’ and had to be removed for safety reasons - with signs posted in hundreds of graves.Renfrewshire Council is currently carrying out inspections across all nine cemeteries in Renfrewshire, which could potentially see thousands being removed without first telling families of the loved ones buried there.Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here. Some of the headstones at Hawkhead have been laid face down, meaning inscriptions on the headstones are no longer visible.However, while Yvonne says she understands the council’s reasons for the removal, she says she should have been informed the headstone would be removed.She has criticised the council for not making an effort to contact her or publicly advertise in the local press or social media to let people know what was happening.Instead, small signs were erected within the cemetery, which Yvonne said could be easily missed.Yvonne, who said she promised her dad she would look after his parents graves before he died, said: “I just think the way they have gone about it is really disrespectful.“I had no idea this was happening at all so when I went up to visit and saw the grave lying flat with the sign