Mourners anger at cost of Povey tribute

Friends and relatives of the late 'Mr Leek' have been told to fork out over £700 to plant a tree by his graveside.

Mourners of Steve Povey, who passed away last year, were stunned when Staffordshire Moorlands District Council quoted them £740 for the simple graveside tribute - an ornamental cherry tree - at Buxton Road Cemetery.

That amounts to almost £200 more than it cost to dig the 53 year-old's grave, and now his family are considering abandoning the tribute, mindful of Mr Povey's lifetime crusade against the cost of bureaucracy.

23 year-old son Alex told the Sentinel: "He did not drive a flashy car, he just had a banger. He would rather the money was spent on those who needed it."

Retired farmer Harold Critchlow said the planting ceremony was all but organised when the council dealt their financial blow.

"£700 to dig a whole in the ground seems crazy," said Mr Critchlow. "You would expect gold-plated gremlins to be doing the digging."

"As a retired farmer, I probably know more about planting trees than they do and a cherry tree like this will not require any maintenance. If a few twigs need cutting off, I'll do it."

He continued: "I don't know if the tree will get planted now. Steve didn't like to see money wasted. We just wanted to do something in tribute to him because he did such a lot for the town."

A spokesman for the council told the Sentinel that the cost would cover 'the planting of the tree, providing a plaque, concreting around the base, labour and public liability insurance'.