A FORMER council employee, who has built up a close relationship with the Traveller community in St Helens, warns that they are threatening to exhume the body of a man, buried last week, if officials stop his grieving family erecting a large headstone on his grave.

At the time the Star went to press, the man who has asked to remain anonymous, was in tense negotiations with officials to allow the family of Bill-Boy Young, who was buried last week, to erect the double sized monument in St Helens cemetery. If their request is turned down, he believes some members of the Travellers community would not allow matters to rest there and would seek to have the body moved.

The family has been told that new government health and safety legislations no longer allow large monuments in cemeteries.

The man said that the family would not have bought the plot several years ago, if they knew that any monument would be refused.

He added: "I have asked that council officers make a special allowance in this case and allow the memorial to go ahead. It's not really fair that they should be the first family to suffer because of the new regulations."

He said the death of their 20-year-old son, who was due to be married in three weeks, has broken his family's hearts."These people are genuine Romanies. They pay taxes and have lived in St Helens more than 40 years."

A council press officer said: "The rules and regulations relating to the cemeteries and crematorium have recently been revised by the council.

"Current regulations specify a maximum size for any memorial up to 1013mm (40") high and 912mm (36") wide. Two graves were purchased next to each other and there would be no objections to two headstones being erected providing they comply with the sizes allowed by current rules and regulations applicable to memorials."