A grieving man fears being unable to visit his parents’ graves outside office hours after the cemetery introduced a ‘VIP’ pass.
Craig Bennett’s mother and father are buried at the Garden of Remembrance in Longton, Staffordshire.
But the Spring Garden Road cemetery is bringing in paid-for VIP passes to gain access to the site outside visiting hours from January 1 – with Craig and his family allegedly told they are ineligible for one because they don’t own the graves.
The one-off £5 grave pass and £10 rose garden charge will give loved-ones access to the cemetery until 9pm every night. Anyone without a pass will not have access to the cemetery outside office hours.
Craig, from Blurton, owns CB Light Haulage and works full time, and wants to buy six £5 passes for himself and his siblings.
The 42-year-old said: ‘My mum bought the plots for herself and my dad. She was paying the maintenance on my dad’s plot and then when she passed away in 2020 she was buried there because she’d already bought the plot.
‘But because she was the owner and she’s died that meant there was no maintenance fee, so I can’t get the VIP card.
‘I don’t mind paying £5 per person, it’s the fact anyone who has a family member who owned the plot and is now buried there won’t be able to go outside those hours. I think it’s disgusting, I’ve been on the phone to them and they’ve said they’re going to get a manager to contact me.’
He added: ‘Both of my parents have passed away and nobody owns the plot now and you’re basically saying all their family can’t go because we all work and it’s only free from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday. I work from 7am until 5pm every day, so how am I going to go and visit my family now.
‘They are stopping families from visiting their loved-ones. They’ve not sent a letter or contacted the families, all they’ve done is put a poster on the building. I haven’t got a problem with paying the £5 because it keeps the site secure.
‘The way people are being treated is disgusting. From January 1 I won’t be able to see my parents unless I have a day off from work. I’m a driver based in Uttoxeter and I don’t even know if I’m in Stoke-on-Trent so I can’t even rely on nipping in. I’m thinking of contacting a solicitor. It’s cruel on families.’
Garden of Remembrance owner Jason Taft told StokeonTrentLive that Craig and his siblings can have passes after being approached by the news outlet. But Craig has this week still not received any.
Mr Taft says he has spent £8,000 on increased security at the site and has handed out 90 free passes to his most vulnerable customers. It will cost £10-per-person to visit the rose garden outside of office hours.
Mr Taft said: ‘There are 1,300 graves and we could not send that many keys out so people can come and get a card if they want one.
‘We are not locking people out and this gives them access to the cemetery until 9pm when we would normally be closed.
‘People can know it’s safe when they’re visiting and they’ll be safe from undesirables breaking in now. The key cards are not coming into force until January 1 because people wouldn’t be happy if we did it before Christmas.’