RELIEVED relatives have forced borough council officials to have a change of heart regarding a dispute over flowers at Maidstone Cemetery.

The Kent Messenger revealed last week how relatives were told they could only have a single vase of flowers on their loved ones graves. Relatives were given 21 days to remove any other floral tributes after officials claimed they were against cemetery regulations.

But the council changed its mind this week after the move caused uproar and allowed the grave flowers to stay. Rules and regulations were already in place, but relatives claimed they were confusing and had not been enforced for years.

A council spokesman said new rules and regulations had now been drawn up and so long as the tributes stayed within the headstone borders, and did not encroach on the grassed areas, they could stay. The council had claimed its contractors were having trouble getting their mowers round the plots because they had too many floral tributes and stone ornaments on.

Relatives with loved ones buried at the cemetery said they were ready to ignore looming council deadlines and had started a petition with hundreds of names on.

Carol Calverley, 49, of Shepway, who was told to clear her father's grave of its extra tributes, said: "This is absolutely brilliant. We would never have been able to do it without the backing of the Kent Messenger.

"We are so grateful to the paper and to the people of Maidstone who gave us all their support to let us tend the flowers on our relatives graves."