MALVERN cemetery will be inspected as part of a nationwide memorial safety testing project.

The Malvern testing programme will begin on October 20 and last for around three months.

Contractors Memsafe will send a group of inspectors to test the sturdiness of each gravestone and memorial.

These will be visually inspected and then a force-meter will be applied. Remedial work will be carried out to those which fail the test.

Spokesman Jim Thompson said: "Unsafe headstones and memorials can be extremely dangerous to the public. There have been six deaths nationally due to falling headstones in the last five years and we're trying to prevent this from happening in the future."

Malvern Town Council will post notices around the area, giving information about the project.

Council operations manager Richard Chapman, said: "We aim to be very pro-active in promoting public awareness of this issue. We appreciate that it can be a very sensitive issue but, ultimately, we want to ensure that the public are safe."