Relatives visiting loved ones’ graves have been given just two weeks to stop their headstones being pulled down - because of health and safety red tape.

Hyndburn Council has marked some 90 graves in the picturesque St James’ Cemetery, off Burnley Road, Altham, after ruling them ‘unsafe’.

Notices displayed outside the graveyard have warned that children "playing" around the headstones may be injured if one of them topples over.

And contractors are due to begin laying the stones flat before the end of the month.

Many of the graves in the closed churchyard are very old, but several are still tended by families.

And church warden Robert Barnes fears some relatives could be in for a nasty shock because of the short notice.

He said: "They’re going to pull them down and lay them flat and it’s not going to look very pleasant. They’ve already pushed two over. People don’t come every week or every week to come to this graveyard and I don’t think it’s right. I could understand the health and safety part of it, but I think they should be advertising it better."

Bird-spotter Yvonne Pinder, 51, is a frequent visitor to the cemetery.

She said: "I would have thought if we pay the council to do the burial it’s also part of their responsibility to keep the ground the graves are on in a suitable condition.

"I would be surprised if anyone has been playing on there because there are very few children living round here.

It’s a bit of an out of the way cemetery and some visitors live out of town; a friend of mine’s mother is buried there but he lives in Bury so he only comes every month or so."

Derek Salt, 46, of New Row, said: "It seems a shame that they’re taking them down. There’s always a few flowers left out and I would have thought they could just prop them up. It only needs a bit of concrete."

A council spokesperson said: "We have looked into this problem at the request of St James’ Church and have found that approximately 90 gravestones are in an unsafe condition.

"The notice may appear short but on the other hand it would only take seconds for an accident to occur.

"One can imagine the concerns there would be if a child was injured and the council had not acted."

He added: "Where people do not come forward the stones will be laid flat, if relatives come forward they will be able to restore them to their original condition."

Inquiries from relatives or grave owners should be directed to 01254 388 111.