‘My mother’s funeral flowers were stolen’
Man calls for better CCTV monitoring at crematorium
A MAN is calling for better monitoring of CCTV cameras at Breakspear Crematorium after flowers were stolen following his mother’s funeral.
Andrew Brown, who lives in Harefield, said he believes the floral tribute to his mother Ruby Brown was stolen from the crematorium in Breakspear Road, Ruislip, some time after a service on Friday, October 31.
Mrs Brown’s funeral was held at St Mary’s Church in Harefield before committal at the crematorium that afternoon.
Flowers were laid out outside the West Chapel and left overnight.
But when Mr Brown went to collect them on the morning of Saturday, November 1, he was shocked to discover one was missing.
“There were about eight floral tributes laid out in a row and I noticed one particular one was missing because it came from my mother’s grandson,” he said.
“The monetary value does not matter but they were sentimental to us and to have had them stolen is quite unbelievable.
“Whoever is responsible for the crematorium should take responsibility in having it secured, and I know they have CCTV cameras but they were not recording the site,” he said.
Between October and March the crematorium, which is jointly run by Hillingdon and Harrow councils, opens from 9am5pm, Monday-Saturday.
Jean Palmer, deputy chief executive and corporate director of residents’ services at Hillingdon Council, said it was possible for there to be 200-300 floral tributes left per day, and it was extremely rare for one to be stolen.
“We were shocked to hear that a tribute had been taken and we are reviewing if anything can be done so that we can prevent this happening in the future,” she said.
Mr Brown said: “I think CCTV should not only by monitoring the site 24 hours a day, it should be recording and better care should be taken to secure the site to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Has this happened to you? What can be done to prevent it? See the letters pages on pages 15-16 for ways to get in touch.