Grandfather is denied final wish over ‘offensive’ gravestone

TOWN hall chiefs have refused the final wish of a grandfather who wanted to have the words ‘the little bugger did his best’ on his gravestone.

Former airman and fireman Maurice Brown, 87, who died of cancer in August, wrote a joke poem which he stuck on the kitchen wall for his relatives to find following his death. It read: ‘When I am laid to rest, with a tombstone upon my chest, the six words I’d like to see are “the little bugger did his best”.’

His grandson, Lewis Ryan, 20, honoured Mr Brown’s final wish and commissioned a stonemason to design a headstone.

But his application to have it put on the grave – also the final resting place for Mr Brown’s late wife Jean, who died in 2014, aged 84 – was rejected by Erewash Borough Council. Officials said they were concerned the word ‘bugger’ would offend someone.

Mr Ryan offered to change the word to ‘bogger’ or ‘beggar’, but the council would not budge.

He said: ‘The word in the context it’s being used in – it’s not used in an offensive way. It shows what he was like as a person. Grandad was a joker.’

Mr Brown served as a firefighter after leaving the RAF, before turning to photography. His grave is lying unmarked in Park Road Cemetery in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, while his grandson appeals the council’s decision.