Mum told to remove fence from 7-year-old son's grave as it broke 'regulations'
A mum has been told to remove a decoration from the grave of her seven-year-old son - because it is against a cemetery's “rules and regulations”.
Young Harry-Lee Andrews-Tomlinson died in February 2022 after he suffered an asthma attack in February 2022. His mother, Sharna Andrews, and sister Zofia, spent days hand-painting a fence to put around his grave four months ago.
Sharna, 29, has now received a letter from Gloucester City Council demanding the fence be removed as it “doesn’t comply with the rules and regulations”. But Sharna is not giving up easily - and has vowed to “fight” to save the fencing at Gloucester Cemeteries and Crematorium, because it reflects her son’s “bright and happy” personality.
The grave was decorated beautifully - which Sharna said help her "process" her feelings (Sharna Andrews / SWNS)
Huge amounts of effort were put into giving Harry-Lee the resting space he deserves (Sharna Andrews / SWNS)The support worker from Tredworth, Gloucestershire., is not the only one - with 12 other families having been contacted about removing decorations from their graves. "Harry-Lee was the brightest, happiest little boy. We put up the fencing back in summer and it's so personal to us - it's bright and colourful because it represents my son,” she said.
"When I got the letter, I said 'what the hell is this?' - for the first few days after, I didn't know what to do or think,” Sharne continued. "I feel angry and upset and disappointed - just so many emotions. My son is buried there, that was his last journey and what we have left of him so I'm willing to fight for it."
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Sharna says decorating the grave helped process her grief, adding that “losing your child is not a pain you expect to ever experience”. The fence had been up for months before she heard from the council in mid-October, who said that “this form of memorial is not allowed and needs to be removed”.
The young lad devastatingly passed after an asthma attack in February 2022 (Sharna Andrews / SWNS)
Sharna described Harry-Lee as the "brightest, happiest little boy" (Sharna Andrews / SWNS)Zofia, eight years old, was apparently “upset about it for days” - and Sharna scolds the authorities for “picking on grieving families”. Local councillor Alastair Chambers helped to push back the removal of the decorations until after a council meeting on November 16.
Chambers said he was “disgusted” that the council had already sent a letter warning the “beautiful” decorations should be removed. "She decorated the grave so beautifully with his favourite football team and colours and placed a pretty decorative border around his grave which she individually painted each post and rail,” he began.
"I was disgusted to find out that Gloucester City council had sent [Sharna] a letter warning her that if the grave was not altered, the City Council will remove her son's belongings and the beautiful decorative edging. I won’t let this rest till the rules are changed."
Harry-Lee's sister, Zofia, was very "upset" that the fence was ordered to be taken down (Sharna Andrews / SWNS)A spokesperson for Gloucester City Council said: “We understand that grieving is a difficult time for families, and we do not want to cause any further distress. The rules and regulations for Gloucester Crematorium have been put in place since August 2014 and are in line with those in place in other cemeteries and graveyards around the country.
All families are asked to sign up to these at the time of burial and copies are then sent to them to retain. We do not allow families to place boardings, kerb sets or chippings on graves unless they are approved by a stonemason, as it allows the ground to be maintained without risk of damaging any plastic or wooden surrounds placed there and protects the health and safety of workers and visitors.”
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