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'I always wanted to be buried next to my husband'

Jo Makel
BBC News
Jo Makel/BBC News A woman, aged 75, with shoulder-length white hair and black rimmed glasses sits on a sofa looking at the camera. She is holding a framed photograph of her late husband. She is wearing a black top and a raspberry pink cardiganJo Makel/BBC News
Jackie Clifton, 75, reserved the plot next to her husband's grave

Coffin burials are being stopped at a cemetery in Lincolnshire because of problems with flooding.

One widow, Jackie Clifton, who had paid to reserve the plot next to her husband's grave, said she was very upset.

A letter from North Hykeham Town Council said the decision had not been taken lightly.

It said graves being prepared for full burials had "experienced flooding" and coffin burials "must cease due to changes in water tables and updated legislative requirements".

Residents could still have ashes interred at the Mill Lane cemetery.

However, Mrs Clifton said cremation was never what she had wanted.

"I'm upset and disappointed," she said.

"It's not what I want at all. We were married 50 years. We always said we wanted to grow old gracefully and be buried side by side.

"It's my wish to be buried because I'm Church of England and all the family have been buried."

Councillor Stephen Roe, from North Hykeham Town Council, described it as "a really upsetting situation", but said the council had "no choice".

"It's difficult enough to plan your funeral ahead of time and then to find that it has changed – especially when you have already lost a loved one," he said.

Jackie Clifton A black and white photograph of a couple at their wedding. Both are smiling. The bride, on the left, is wearing a white dress and a small crucifix necklace. Her veil is off her face and has a floral decoration at the top. Her husband is wearing a suit, a white shirt and dark tie. He has a carnation flower pinned to his jacket lapel.Jackie Clifton
Jackie and Tom Clifton were married for 50 years
Jo Makel/BBC A woman kneels down next to the headstone of a grave. She rests her right arm on the headstone. It is the grave of her father. She is looking at the headstone. She has blonde hair and dark-rimmed glasses. She is wearing a burgundy coat and black trousers. Jo Makel/BBC
Jackie's daughter Emma has criticised the letter to her mother.

Mrs Clifton's daughter, Emma Clifton, criticised the way her mother had been informed of the decision by letter.

She said she had posted on social media and found they were not the only family affected.

"What's going to happen in the future? Where will people be buried?" she asked.

"There are a lot of religious people out there that cannot be cremated."

She also questioned why the water table prevented burials, while new housing had been built next to the cemetery.

Roe said a letter was the only way to inform everyone about the changes at the same time.

"I can't see another way we could have done it... before it went on Facebook," he said.

He said although the area around the cemetery had been designated for housing, there was no truth in rumours that the cemetery land would be used for this purpose.

"That would just be so wrong," he added.

The town council's letter said there had been bore-hole monitoring at the site for the past year.

It said, "After a year of monitoring, it became clear that the legal requirement to ensure a full (coffin) burial will be a minimum of 1.5m (4.9ft) from the top of the water table could no longer be met.

"The burial of ashes can still be undertaken as these have a different set of legal parameters."

Anyone who has reserved a plot but does not to use it anymore for ashes to be buried there will be refunded, the council said.

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