ANOTHER Hampshire council is to launch its own safety survey of gravestones amid the uproar which has blown up over cemetery checks at Eastleigh.

Test Valley Council's high-powered executive will this week be asked to give the go-ahead to a programme of inspecting memorials in its cemeteries at Romsey, Woodley, Charlton, Andover and closed cemeteries at Stockbridge and West Tytherley.

The council says it is following the Health and Safety Executive directive that all memorials must be checked to make sure they can withstand reasonable pressure.

But Test Valley will be eager to avoid the controversy which has blown up over safety checks in Eastleigh's cemeteries.

There was a public outcry over the way headstones and memorials were strapped to a wooden stake with a bright yellow tape adorned with the words "Danger. Unsafe. Keep Away."

After the Daily Echo highlighted the protests Eastleigh Council carried out an urgent review of the safety procedure.

Test Valley Council says it has worked closely with the diocese of Winchester on how these inspections should be carried out.

The council has already drawn up a proposed inspection programme:

Make sure that the inspections are carried out in a way that will show proper respect for the memorials.

Provide information about the inspections.

Do everything possible to contact relatives if work is needed to make headstones safe.

The planned inspections will be widely publicised and they will take place in phases over two years so that sections of each cemetery will be reviewed in turn.

A council spokesman says: "A national expert has been commissioned to carry out the first inspections and will also train the council's own staff as part of the process for the future."

Southampton City Council is well into the headstone safety check of its five cemeteries.

A council spokesman said: "In a health and safety exercise we are carrying out a survey to make sure the memorials are stable. This started about 18 months ago and is ongoing."

But they have used warning notices, pegged on to the stones, which are not so intrusive to those visiting the graves.

Meanwhile, New Forest Council is still paving the way for a district-wide survey of its seven open and three closed cemeteries.

A council spokesman said: "We want to do it in a sympathetic way." The authority will be getting advice from experts and consulting district and parish councillors and the public before it puts forward its proposals.

If it gets the go-ahead the headstone safety survey could take place within the next six to nine months.