Relatives said the council did not tell them about the work

Checks on more than 40,000 headstones in Stockport provoked complaints from relatives about the "insensitive" way the work was done.

Stockport Council carried out the checks after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ordered all UK local authorities to make sure no headstones were in danger of falling over.

The council decided to test the headstones with a simple push test and those that fell over were left in place, but some of them were broken in the process.

A special scrutiny committee will now be set up to assess how the work was done.

Public inquiry

Relatives have criticised the council for not informing them of their plans to carry out the work.

The inquiry will be held in public and meetings will be publicised in advance.

Members of the public will be invited to give evidence when the inquiry begins in September.

The HSE ordered the safety checks after incidents, in other parts of the country, where gravestones fell on people.