Council refuses to say if Derby cemetery TikTok workers got sack

A council has refused to confirm if three of its workers have been sacked over "insensitive and disrespectful" TikTok videos filmed at a cemetery.

Derby City Council suspended the workers in June over videos filmed at Nottingham Road Cemetery.

The clips, viewed thousands of times, showed two men dancing while carrying a coffin and another joking around near an open grave.

The authority said it had taken "appropriate action".

City council bosses said they would not disclose the outcome of the investigation as it is a contractual "private arrangement" between the council and the employees in question, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A council spokesperson said: "While the TikTok clips were objectively abhorrent, exercising our contractual rights to investigate and sanction, whatever that might be, does not in any way justify us breaching the right to privacy of the individuals concerned by providing a publicly available summary of the sanctions, if any, meted out."

In one of the clips, a man can be heard jokingly singing in a graveyard, before the camera pans to reveal a recently dug grave with a casket and flowers inside.

Another clip showed two men dancing while carrying a coffin on their shoulders.

The council spokesperson added: "Our colleagues in Bereavement Services have worked tirelessly throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and have gone over and above to support our residents with care and compassion.

"The videos did not represent the behaviour we expect from our employees. A full investigation has been carried out and completed in line with our procedures, and appropriate action taken."

The videos - which have since been deleted - dated back to 2020.

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