Bereaved families told to avoid banned plastic resin headstones sold online

Bereaved families are buying cheap plastic resin headstones, memorials, grave kerbs and surrounds not realising they are banned in cemeteries.

A number of retailers offer them on Facebook and other sites and they are becoming increasingly popular as a more affordable alternative to traditional stone.

But as they do not meet safety rules and do not weather well, hard-up mourners will be wasting their money and are likely to be told to remove them, causing further upset.

Every burial authority in Britain sets their own rules as to what is allowed.

Almost all only permit memorials made of naturally quarried stone, and specifically exclude artificial stone, ceramic, plastic or any other material deemed inappropriate.

They must also be installed by a registered monumental mason and comply with British Standards.

Brent Stevenson, of the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons, said “unfortunately” an increasing number of people are buying and installing them.

“People don’t realise they are not allowed,” he said. “What should happen is the firms that are selling them should make it clear to the public that all memorials require permission to be erected in a cemetery.

“What happens is they just don’t do that and they get put in over a weekend.”

But memorials made of plastic quickly deteriorate and become brittle and can shatter if they are hit by a mower.

Mr Stevenson added: “When they shatter they become quite sharp pieces, which is a health and safety issue, not just for the chaps that are mowing but to members of the public because the pieces go everywhere.

“It puts the burial authority in a very difficult position because it is usually someone that is bereaved who has bought this and they don’t want to go and take it away.”

But he added: “It is a false economy because you would only want something that will stand the test of time, otherwise you are
not being respectful to that person you are trying to commemorate.

“If it is only going to last a year or two, it upsets families because they feel they are being a bit disrespectful because it has got a bit tatty.

“Would you buy it knowing you will have issues in a few years?”

Instead he urged families to speak to their local burial authority and mason to find out what materials and designs are allowed.

A Church of England spokesperson said: “The design of memorials is controlled to make sure that churches and churchyards remain special places that everyone can appreciate.

“The regulations usually make a specification about the kind of material that can be used and certainly none would envisage plastic.”