All Christmas tributes and wreaths must be removed from graves by the middle of this month. 

Cheshire West and Chester Council need them to be taken away to allow for the maintenance of the cemeteries and crematorium grounds they manage across the borough.

Anyone who wishes to dispose of – or keep – their Christmas tributes should remove them from the cemetery grounds and burial plots by Friday, February 16.

Cemetery staff will begin to remove any remaining Christmas tributes from Monday, February 19. Grass cutting will then take place from early March.

Wreaths and tributes will be removed from the grounds of: Blacon Cemetery/Chester crematorium; Overleigh Cemetery, Chester; Overpool Cemetery, Ellesmere Port; Neston Cemetery; and Wharton Cemetery, Winsford.

At Chester Crematorium, Christmas tributes and any other memorial items not issued by the council which have been placed in the Garden of Remembrance areas, and also adjacent to the Book of Remembrance Room, will be removed from February 19. 

This is to ensure that these areas can be enjoyed as peaceful areas of contemplation by everyone.

Councillor Karen Shore, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “The council understands that the removal of Christmas tributes is extremely sensitive and this is why grave owners and visitors are being given early notice, so that they may remove their own Christmas tribute should they wish.”

The council does not remove wreaths from private church yards.