PEOPLE will no longer be able to place memorial seats at some of the district’s best known beauty spots.

No further benches will be allowed at sites such as Ilkley’s Cow and Calf rocks and Ilkley Tarn, in a bid to retain their natural look. Trees will be limited and any planted must be native,with no plaques.

Bradford Council has drawn up a new district-wide policy controlling memorials in its parks, as well as its rural and woodland sites, after countryside groups raised concerns that some of these areas were nearing capacity.

These groups also reported the problem of memorials appearing in these areas without permission, such as bunches of flowers, the planting of shrubs or trees or even in one case the installation of a small decorative fence.

Under the new policy, the Council will remove these unauthorised memorials. Floral tributes will be taken away once they have died off.

The Council will still install memorial benches or plant trees in many areas on request and charge families for the cost of this. But families will be expected to maintain benches and if they fall into disrepair they will be removed.

Council bosses said while they recognised it was a sensitive issue, this approach had been backed by the majority of members of the public who responded to a survey last winter.

Councillor Val Slater, deputy council leader and executive member for planning, said: “We do understand that many people want to leave a special tribute to a loved one, perhaps in a favourite place, and want to support them doing this.

“But we also have to balance this with the need to protect our countryside, parks and woodland for future generations.

“We hope these guidelines will accommodate both these needs.”

The move was has been backed by the Council’s opposition Conservative group.

Councillor Martin Smith, Conservative spokesman for planning, said: “I think it’s very appropriate. It’s a fair solution.

“There are opportunities to have seats in various locations in the area, areas like Ilkley town centre where there are many seats with names on them.”

Cllr Smith (Con, Ilkley) said he particularly supported the removal of unauthorised memorials at the Council’s park and countryside sites, especially particularly in areas near roads where they could distract motorists.

He said: “We are not Europe, we are not the south of France, we are not Spain and we are not Greece. We are England and we don’t do it that way.”

The policy was rubber-stamped at a meeting of the Council’s executive at City Hall on Tuesday.