Grieving family members of deceased individuals were filmed getting dragged out of a local cemetery following a clash with the authorities.

The incident took place in Stockport, England, where families gathered at Mill Lane Cemetery to protest local policies concerning the display of tributes.

Following a heated exchange of words with council workers and police officers, some mourners were dragged out of the cemetery by force. No arrests were reportedly made.

The rift between Mill Lane Cemetery plot owners and the local council began three years ago when Stockport Council demanded all plot owners remove large decorations and tributes that posed as obstacles when it comes to the maintenance of the cemetery.

Though the majority of plot owners agreed to remove ‘excessive’ tributes, some decided to stand up to the council and confront the police when the local authorities decided to take action and remove the obstacles themselves.

“We own rights to those graves, we paid for our loved ones to be buried so we should be able to do what we want with them,” one angry local, Kelly Pullen, said.

“This is a place that brings us comfort, we’ve decorated the graves of our loved ones and they’re taking that away.  It’s the fact about all the police presence, have they not got anything else to do?”

Describing the incident as “horrendous,” Gaynor Bradburn added:

“I’ve been sent a live video and it’s absolutely horrendous. It’s heart-breaking, they’re not letting anybody in and everybody’s obviously very very angry and upset.

“It’s absolutely disgusting that they can do that. To have the amount of police there is unbelievable, it’s absolutely horrendous.”

Following the outrage, Councillor Sheila Bailey spoke out to explain why the council was forced to act and insist that all plot owners agreed to their policies when they decided to purchase a plot at Mill Lane Cemetery.

“We understand that all families have their own unique ways of remembering their loved ones and that personal items and ornaments can hold dear memories,” she said.

“Each grave has an area around the headstone where such items can be placed. Over recent years however we have seen larger tributes, gardens or borders established at some graves in Mill Lane Cemetery.

“Many people have told us that they chose Mill Lane as the final resting place for their loved one specifically because it was a lawned cemetery, but the increasing number of gardens or tributes built out in front of graves means that this is no longer the case.”

Bailey added:

“The original design of Mill Lane as a lawned cemetery is explained when a family is considering Mill Lane Cemetery and when a grave is purchased.

“We understand that this is an extremely emotive issue and we have been in contact with grave owners since 2018, when they were written to, to ask that gardens, borders or ornaments be removed.

“Many people responded to this request and since then we have sought to engage with individual grave owners where we know gardens or larger displays have been placed. We have also spoken to a wide range of groups and individuals who visit Mill Lane.

“We subsequently wrote to a number of grave owners in June and October of this year who had not yet removed borders or ornaments and tributes and some have since been cleared.”

In conclusion, Bailey said the council was determined to enforce rules that the majority of plot owners follow in order to maintain the lawned layout and respect the wishes of the majority.

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