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<\/p>\nCheryl and her family have been hit with some horrifying news as they announced that her grandparents' grave has been 'deliberately knocked down'. <\/p>\n
The gravestone of Cheryl's paternal grandparents, Brian and Margaret Tweedy, was found flattened at Heaton Cemetery in Newcastle. The shocking act followed concerns raised by the local council about safety.<\/p>\n
Although Cheryl was born three years after her grandfather Brian passed away from a heart attack in 1980, she was very close to her grandmother, Margaret, who died aged 60 in 2001. <\/p>\n
Local residents were left fuming when they went to pay their respects to their loved ones, only to find their headstones lying flat.<\/p>\n
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Cheryl's uncle, Tony Tweedy, expressed his shock after discovering his parents' headstone had been knocked over. He believes that Cheryl will be "upset" by the news, which her dad, Garry, is likely to tell her. "I can imagine she will be upset when she finds out, she's like the rest of us," he said, adding: " She gets emotional about things.<\/p>\n
"Her dad will tell her what's happened. She doesn't come up to Newcastle as much now, but she will be saddened by this."<\/p>\n
Tony, 59, claims that Newcastle City Council made no attempts to contact either him, his brother or his sister about the decision to remove the headstone. And he had only been informed about the drastic move by his brother after he visited the grave to pay his respects.<\/p>\n
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Now, the family are facing a bill in excess of \u00a3500 to have the headstone repaired following claims it had been unsafe. The Tweedy family, have also received a second quote of \u00a3240. <\/p>\n
Mr Tweedy fumed: "We are disgusted by what's happened. The council couldn't have done this at a worse time, just before Christmas."<\/p>\n
"It's when a lot of people visit the graves of loved ones. It's bad enough to lose your parents, but for those who have lost children, the heartache will be even worse, they will be devastated." <\/p>\n
He added: "The headstone was lying on its back, there was nothing wrong with it. It wasn't loose. There are graves in worse condition which haven't been touched. None of it makes sense." His wife Debbie, 60, said: "Tony saw families in tears at the cemetery, it's devastating."<\/p>\n
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A yellow label has been placed on the headstones with a warning reading: "Warning: This memorial is unsafe." But Tony claims other families have been left horrified by the removal of headstones from graves. <\/p>\n
Speaking about the decision to knock down the gravestones, a Newcastle City Council representative told The Mirror: "We have a legal duty to ensure our cemeteries are safe places for people to pay their respects and for our staff to work in. In June, we started a programme of work to carry out safety inspections in all 10 of the council's managed cemeteries.<\/p>\n
"A decision to lay down a memorial is only taken if they are deemed to present a risk to the public. We understand this is an emotive and sensitive subject but we would like to reassure families that the work is carried out with the greatest respect and sensitivity. We always try to contact the last known owner should their headstone need to be repaired but please appreciate this may not always be possible."<\/p>\n
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI engine, which speeds up OK!'s editorial research and applies it to article templates created by journalists in our newsrooms. An OK! editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to okletters@reachplc.com <\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n