New rules about what families can leave on graves and memorials in the district will be discussed by councillors.

Maldon District Council promises it will be done with “a caring manner and considerate approach” following controversy over memorial bench plans when the policy was first discussed a year ago.

The report, by Richard Holmes, director of customers and community, states: “The committee has decided to implement the policy to ensure there is consistent approach across the cemeteries and that the memorials left on the graves and plots are safe for the maintenance of sites as well as visitors and wildlife.”

Under the new policy owners will be contacted and asked to remove any “offending” items within 28 days.

If it is not removed after this time the owner will be written to again and given a further 14 days to remove the tribute, before council staff retrieve it.

Lindsey Abbott, whose mum has a bench in Promenade Park, said: “We as a family definitely don’t want anything dead left on the bench.

“We leave flowers on Mother’s Day, my mum’s birthday and a wreath at Christmas and we always make sure to go and take it off.

“But I don’t think you can dictate to people and not everyone is going to be able to go down and remove items.

“I think the wording needs to be clear.”

Last year Maldon District Council decided to review its policy for memorials across cemeteries and parks in the district saying it needed “refreshing and reviewing”.

Draft guidelines, which were considered last February, suggested grieving families would be stopped from leaving any memorials or tributes on benches or memorial trees as they are “outside a purchased formal burial plot”.

After being questioned by the Standard, the council said it was “definitely not” banning people from placing flowers on benches but a year on the report will go back before the community services committee with the same wording, despite the council insisting it will only be things like dead flowers or Christmas decorations taken away from cemeteries.