Grieving Cramlington mother asked to remove railings round son's grave by Northumberland Council

A grieving mum from Cramlington said she is "devastated" after council staff told her to remove the £1,000 railings she bought to decorate her son's grave.

Marilyn Iley's son, 23-year-old Jimmy Ferguson, was killed in a motorcycle crash in 2020.

Then weeks later the 47-year-old lost her job as an accounts administrator due to the pandemic.

Despite living on Universal Credit the mother spent months saving up so she could invest in some specially designed iron railings around Jimmy's grave, at Cramlington's Mayfield Cemetery.

Eighteen months after the structure was erected at the plot, Northumberland County Council has told Ms Iley they will have to be removed as they are not allowed in the lawned area of the graveyard.

She said: "Jimmy just meant so much to us. I scrimped and saved to get those and now they are saying everything needs to be taken down.

"I just wanted to give him what he deserves. It was important to me to give him a good resting place."

Jimmy died when the bike he was riding crashed into a fence in the Bomarsund area of Ashington.

Ms Iley said: "The cemetery is directly across the road from where I live. When he first died I was climbing the railings at 4am and lying by his grave. It's been a real struggle for us.

"I was a single mam. I raised Jimmy by myself. He was always with me. He was just my world. He was everything I had."

After saving money for the railings Marilyn said she was given permission by the council for them to be installed.

However, the council say she did not request permission and it would not have been granted.

"It cost me more than £1,000. It took us months and months to save," she said.

"They were made by an iron monger in Carlisle. A guy from the council met me at Jimmy's plot. He asked us exactly what I wanted. He said I could have the railings no problem.

"He said that was fine 18 months ago and now they are trying to remove them. They weren't doing anybody any harm."

A spokeswoman for Northumberland County Council said they would be speaking to Marilyn about the railings.

She said: "We have respectfully requested the removal of the metal fencing due to it being erected in a lawned section of the cemetery which unfortunately is not permitted.

"A senior member of the cemeteries team will contact the family again and offer to meet with them to discuss the issue."

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