THE ban on wooden crosses in Bromsgrove cemeteries will not be lifted despite a councillor's attempt to change the policy.

The vote followed the Advertiser/Messenger's report on the plight of Eileen Mulhall, a Sidemoor woman who found the handcrafted wooden cross on her sister's grave taken without warning because of council policy.

Bromsgrove District Council's opposition leader Cllr Peter McDonald (Lab, Uffdown and Waseley) moved to end the ban.

He said it discriminated against the poor, who could not afford expensive headstones, and made the council look heartless.

At last Tuesday's meeting of the authority's recreation and amenities committee Cllr McDonald said: "I find it very hurtful that one of our policies can cause so much distress.

"I really believe Mrs Mulhall would not have anything on the grave that was not acceptable.

"Removing a cross was no better than the vandalism of headstones that occurred earlier in the year."

But members voted to uphold the regulations.

Committee chairman Cllr Terri Matthews (Con, Furlongs) said they would not ask people about their financial circumstances and could not make exceptions.

She added the existing policy had worked for many years.

Cllr Matthews said: "I have had several people come up to me and say we must keep what is good."

Councillors were concerned wooden crosses would deteriorate if they were not varnished regularly, and if families moved away or relatives died there would be no one to maintain them.