Safety tests have begun on gravestones in Oxford cemeteries and churchyards by the city council.

About 20,000 memorials will be surveyed as part of a five-year programme under health and safety legislation.

Headstones will get a visual inspection followed by a test to check stability. Those which fail will be supported by wooden stakes, but larger memorials may need to be laid down. Initial tests were carried out in 2005 with more than 10 per cent failing, although officers believe the figure will be much lower this time.

Executive member for a sustainable environment Caroline van Zyl said: "It's important we carry out this work to ensure that the cemeteries and graveyards are safe places to visit departed loved ones."

Memorials remain the responsibility of the family that erected them.

Botley Cemetery, SS Mary & John in East Oxford, and St Mary's in Littlemore will be inspected this year; Wolvercote Cemetery in 2008; Headington Cemetery, St James' in Cowley in 2009; St Giles, St Cross, St Mary Magdalen, St Mary's in Iffley, St Andrew's in Headington, Osney Cemetery, and St Sepulchre's Cemetery in 2010, and Rose Hill Cemetery in 2011.