MAINTENANCE of the grounds at Banbury's Hardwick Hill cemetery has been taken over by the town council - but funerals will still be under the control of the London Cremation Company.

The changes came into force at the beginning of October.

Nicholas Turner, chairman of the town's general services committee, said: "LCC did all the grounds maintenance at Hardwick Hill, and ran the offices. We felt that with the site being the town's flagship cemetery, it would be better to have the care of the graves and the grassed areas under council control."