A distraught widow has been told by a church the headstone she had put up in memory of her late husband has to come down – because the correct paperwork wasn’t filled in.

Elaine Holmes, a twice-former Mayor of Melton, has been told the cherished memorial to her late husband, Frederick “Mick” Holmes will have to be removed from St Denys Church yard in Goadby Marwood, where she lives.

The £4,000 headstone was only placed on Mr Holmes’ grave earlier this month - four years after his death.

Delays were caused by accessing the right type of stone, which, when weathered will match most other gravestones in the churchyard which are made of Ironstone, mined in the area for centuries.

Within days of it being erected by a stonemason the church authorities tried to contact Mrs Holmes, who was out of reach on a cruise.

The Leicester Diocese said it was ‘very surprised’ when the headstone suddenly appeared for Mr Holmes, who died, aged 80, in December 2015, because no official application had been made to the church to install it.

They asked Mrs Holmes to take it out, but after she complained that they were acting insensitively she has now made a formal retrospective application for the stone to stay.

"Absolutely awful thing"

Mrs Holmes, who represents the Waltham ward on Melton Borough Council, said: “I honestly didn’t know I was doing anything wrong. I am totally green about the necessary procedures.

“I didn’t know I had to do anything other than buy the plot. I honestly didn’t know I had to complete a form to put the headstone up.

“I did notify The Ironstone Churches (a group of seven churches in the Melton area) before it went up, but I have now been told I didn’t have the special certificate for it.”

She added: “I think it is an absolutely awful thing that has happened to me, and it makes me very sad.

“It is a long time ago that my husband passed away, but dealing with this brought me to tears.

“I looked after him at home because he didn’t want to go into hospital except for the last five or six days of his life and this has brought it all back.

“My husband was a very quiet man and he wouldn’t have wanted a fuss like this to be made over him.”

What the church said

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Leicester said: “This is a heart-breaking situation: the local church was very surprised when this gravestone suddenly appeared in the churchyard as no permission had been applied for.

“We are saddened that the bereaved family faces this very distressing scenario.

"The stonemason firm they employed is fully aware of the Churchyard Regulations and the need for an application to be made for any headstone to be placed in a churchyard.

“It is highly irregular for a stonemason not to follow due process in ensuring that the relevant authorisations are in place before erecting a headstone.”

No-one at stonemason A.E. Herbert, of Melton, which carried out the installation, was available to comment.