Lewes District Council made a daft decision when it levelled more than 600 headstones at two cemeteries in the county town and in Seaford.

Relatives found out the memorials had been flattened only when they went to tend the graves.

It's hard to imagine a more insensitive action owners of a cemetery could take and the council should be ashamed of itself.

The decision was taken after the sad death of a child at Harrogate, Yorkshire, when a headstone fell over.

This was a rare and unusual death. Also in Yorkshire, a woman was killed last month when part of a church collapsed on her but it was not a signal for Lewes District Council to fence off all its places of worship.

Councils have to assess the degree of risk to their citizens and it is clear the chance of being felled by gravestones is tiny.

Now Lewes may have to reinstate most of the memorials at considerable cost, which could easily have been avoided.

It might be worthwhile for councils to look at the safety of large old headstones in their cemeteries but it is usually obvious whether they are about to fall over or not.

Modern gravestones are generally smaller and are likely to cause less damage if they do topple over.

This council has offended scores of bereaved residents who will never forget what it did.