A CRACKDOWN on flowers being laid in a Chingford graveyard has caused anger and confusion among mourners.

Reverend Tom Page of SS Peter and Paul's on The Green, Station Road, ordered the clear up after a family became distressed when grave of a loved one was obscured by flowers placed on a neighbouring plot.

The problem is affecting an area of the graveyard where ashes are placed close together in small plots.

In a note to parishioners, Rev Page said: "As the Garden of Remembrance becomes fuller, it is less and less appropriate to have these memorials, and so the Parish Church Council is requesting that they are removed."

Mourners have been given a deadline of Saturday, April 4 to remove all memorials and anything left on graves will be removed.

The church is applying to build a permanent memorial to honour the dead but the crackdown has been met with disbelief by some visitors.

The ashes of 92-year-old Alfred Dudley’s wife Dorothy are in the cemetery.

Mr Dudley, of Drysdale Avenue, Chingford, said: "I am very very angry. You go there to do something in memory of the person buried there and you're told you can't leave any flowers."

He added he fears each gravestone will end up looking the same and will loose its personal touch.

Reg Praill, 91, of Fairlight Close, Chingford, whose wife Betsy is also buried in the cemetery, is also unhappy at the crackdown.

He said: "The thing the note doesn't say is whether those wishing to have their ashes buried alongside their loved ones will continue. I want my ashes to be put next to my wife's and I was of the understanding that would happen but now I'm not so sure.

"It also isn't clear as to whether you can still have your name engraved."

Those taking care of church graveyards have to adhere to strict rules which are set and administered by each individual Church of England diocese, unlike council-run cemeteries where mourners can leave as many flowers or items of remembrance as they choose.

Rev Page, 52, who has been at the church for the past four years, said families can still have their names engraved and couples wishing to have their ashes buried in a plot side by side still can.

He added: "The Church has rules it has to abide by and there has been some encroachment. I've had by knuckles wrapped and now the plots are going to be smaller and items like wooden crosses or overgrown flowers will be removed."