CHANGES have been made to the way council staff deal with “inappropriate” graveside tributes in cemeteries after items left in memory of a cancer campaigner were thrown away.

In September last year, workmen chopped branches from a tree AT the grave of Judith McGuiness — who lost her battle with bowel cancer at the age of 54 in June 2013 — and binned tribute lanterns hung by her family near her plot in Horwich Cemetery.

Family members were not informed of the removal and were outraged when they found out what had happened.

Speaking to The Bolton News at the time, Mrs McGuiness’s husband, Alan, said the manner in which the tributes were removed would have “broken his wife’s heart.”

They complained to the council, which apologised and vowed to change its procedures.

That change has now come after Cllr Nick Peel, the authority’s member for the environment, rubber stamped plans for a more “robust” tribute removal policy, which he hopes will ensure that “everyone knows where they stand.”

He said: “The policy deals with people putting items outside the area of their marked graves — there is already a policy in place and we have signs up about what shouldn’t be put there.

“The new policy will put an onus on our officers that no tributes should be moved until there have been reasonable attempts to contact the owners.

“If that has happened in the past then it shouldn’t have done and we hope these more robust guidelines will make sure that everyone knows where they stand.

“This is a very sensitive issue and it needs to be dealt with appropriately.”

The new policy means that items will be put into safe storage and will not simply be thrown away in the manner the items at Mrs McGuiness’s graveside were.

Officers will then be required to actively contact the family members to let them know that the tributes which have been left are not appropriate and that they can then collect them.

The Cemetery Rules and Regulations state that tributes should not be placed outside the perimeters of a grave space including on nearby trees and shrubs.

People are also asked to avoid placing any items made of glass, metal or with sharp edges or anything that can be lit.

The rules also ban families from “the unlimited use of wind chimes, plastic windmills and other items designed to make noise” as well as national flags and banners.”