QUESTION marks over who should be running Middlewich Cemetery are preventing auditors from giving the town council a clean bill of health.

Lisa Benskin, town clerk, is currently investigating the status of the town's cemetery board as confusion hangs over whether it has a legal basis to be run independently of Middlewich Town Council.

It is one of 13 issues that auditor JD Henry flagged up in its latest report on the council for 2019-20 – following on from the 47 earlier issues that were highlighted in previous reports.

However, the town council believes that the substantial work done by officers to improve its financial management will resolve most of those issues, with the cemetery board being the one major stumbling block remaining.

Cllr Mike Hunter, chairman of Middlewich Town Council, told last week's meeting: "This at present is an issue of who owns the cemetery and who should be overseeing its maintenance.

Knutsford Guardian:

"I know it is an issue that really concerns a lot of people.

"It concerns me, I have quite a large number of relatives in the cemetery from my mum onwards, so I too am very concerned about what goes on."

The 1972 Local Government Act, which came into force two years later, required any existing joint cemetery board to be taken over by their town or parish council, or run independently if a separate agreement can be reached.

While the Middlewich cemetery board is currently operating independently from the town council, no document to confirm this has been located so far, and this is required by law.

In its audit, JD Henry said: "If no constitution document is identified when the investigative process by officers is complete, the matter may need to be settled through an opinion from counsel or the court."

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An update on Lisa's investigation could be given at next month's town council meeting.

Simon McGrory, chairman of the cemetery board, was approached for comment by the Guardian.