A MOTHER who lost her unborn daughter has been told to remove colourful decorations from the grave.

Jade Beadle, 24, and Sandeep Bidla, 29, lost their daughter Tanya at 39 weeks in August.

They buried her at Kidlington Cemetery in Bicester Road and to make her plot special, they put a small fence around it, added pink gravel and a few decorations.

But Kidlington Parish Council, which owns the cemetery, told the couple that if they do not remove everything but the headstone by the end of January, then the council will.

In a letter, the council told them: “The land is supposed to be retained as a rural site, and the proliferation of trinkets and lights does not sustain that appearance.”

Miss Beadle has refused to remove the decorations and more than 2,000 people have now signed a petition backing her call to get the council to change its rules.

Miss Beadle, who works at Tesco in Kidlington, said: “This is the only place we have got to visit our little girl.

“All we have left at Christmas and birthdays is to buy her new bits for her grave, but we’re not allowed to get anything.”

The couple’s friend Charlotte Nichols started an online petition against the order at change.org and has more than 2,080 signatures.

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She wrote: “When you lose someone you love it leaves a huge well of pain and hurt inside of you.

“Sometimes having a grave for them gives you something to do to keep busy; something to focus on.

“Simple things like erecting a border filled with stones and putting ornaments down can make you feel like you are actively doing something for them.

“Your signature might mean that Jade can have the beautiful garden she has created for her daughter.”

Miss Beadle said she chose Kidlington Cemetery because the other village cemetery, at St Mary’s Church, did not have any room.

Council chairman David Betts said: “We have a whole range of people buried there, they could be children, elderly people or parents.

“We have a set of rules that were drawn up in order that we could provide some commonality at all places, sensitivity, and a private place where the majority of people can visit in quiet tranquility.”

The rules state that no items such as pot plants, toys, statues or solar lights were permitted on graves.

The letter from the council states: “Floral tributes on the grave are however permitted immediately after the funeral.”

He said the rule about decoration was also made so that large adornments did not get in the way of grass cutting and maintenance.

Mr Betts said he “did not anticipate” the council changing its rules.

He added: “If we changed the rules it means there could be a big debate about what is allowed and what isn’t, we could have a list of things.”

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