Changes to cemetery rules brought about after the remains of three people were accidentally buried in the same grave have left a Widnes pensioner distraught.

The 87-year-old - who does not wish to be named – purchased the deeds for two  plots at Widnes Cemetery in 1995. The deeds were set to cover the next 100 years with one of the plots being set aside to bury her mum, and one for herself when she passed away.

But she said she has now been told she is required to transfer the rights to someone else to bury her there for a fee of £108. And with no siblings or children, she fears she may not be buried near her mum afterall.

She said: “I bought one plot for my mother to be buried in and one for myself at the instigation of the cemetery at the time. I have been told that I can no longer be buried there. I am 87 and my time is getting short now.
"The cemetery want me to transfer those rights to someone else to bury me there for a fee from myself payable to the council.
"I have no one to transfer them to who I could be certain would see that I was buried there, or is guaranteed to survive me,  or in fact would not sell them to someone else. My certainty is that I bought the exclusive rights for me to be buried there."

The regulations around burial plots were drastically changed at the end of October last year meaning the council now requires the signing of a legal document called a 'statutory declaration' for transfers.

Any burial or work on a memorial in Halton cemeteries must now be signed for by the grave owner. If the owner is deceased, the grave will need to be transferred to the rightful next owner. If the grave owner did not specify in their will who should inherit the grave, this is where the statutory declaration comes in.

The change came about after the Local Government Ombudsman upheld a complaint against Halton Council after an unnamed resident bought a plot and their mum was subsequently buried in it. But at a later date, a relative told an undertaker and signed a form saying that it was in fact them who owned the plot and their own aunt and uncle's ashes were buried in the same grave and the headstone was replaced.

A council spokeswoman said the rule change was to ensure such mistakes do not happen in the future. She said its cemeteries team had been in touch with the resident to ‘guide her through the process’.

She said: "She has been advised that, as the owner of the exclusive right of burial for her plot, she holds the absolute right to be buried in the plot she purchased if she so wishes, provided this is within the lease period.

"She wishes to have a memorial installed following her passing. For this to take place, a transfer of the exclusive right of burial needs to be arranged. As this is a legal transfer, the team advised her that, to ensure this was made as easy as possible following her passing, she could add the executor of her will to the grave deed now."

She added: "For this to be done, the cemeteries team would follow the ‘new’ statutory declaration process. This is now widely adopted by local authorities as it is the recommended industry standard, and was recommended to us by the Ombudsman. “