Dozens of ashes interments not recorded, audit finds

"Major gaps" have been found in paperwork at a cemetery in Cheshire, with 49 interments not recorded in burial records last year, an audit has found.

Middlewich Town Council reclaimed full control of its cemetery last year and the authority has now released independent reports of an audit it had commissioned.

It found that burial registers had been "inconsistent" since December 2019, and no interment of ashes had ever been recorded in burial registers.

The cemetery was previously run by the Middlewich Cemetery Board, who the BBC has approached for comment.

Middlewich Town Council last year asked residents for information about loved ones who had been buried at the cemetery.

A report, dated September 2025, said there had been "systemic failings" in its administration.

It said:

• Interment forms were missing for 2021/22 and 2024/25
• Grave deeds for ashes plots had not been issued since 2016
• Register of graves was found to be "incomplete"
• Cremation registers only exist up to 2009 with none found for the period after that until 2025

It also found that, in the burial registers, only 11 entries were recorded for 2024/25.

Separately, it had identified 60 interments through funeral director records during that period.

The auditor concluded the cemetery had been "subject to serious mismanagement in recent years", and said there were "breaches of statutory duties" under the Local Authorities' Cemeteries Order 1977.

"These failings present significant financial, legal, and reputational risks to the Council and risk undermining public confidence in the cemetery's administration," the report said.

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