A funeral company which left grieving families distraught when it banned wooden crosses and fences from its graveyard has apologised.

Earlier this year Dignity Caring Funeral Services removed about 25 wooden crosses and fences from graves at Downs Crematorium, Bear Road, Brighton.

It decided the memorials were out of keeping.

The West Midlands-based company left impersonal notes on each grave addressed to "dear grave owner".

It said the flowers and vases must be of an "approved design" and that jars, jugs and bottles were also banned.

It was part of a purge of the graveyard to rid it of wooden crosses and memorials which the company said was an attempt to "raise standards". It said only stone memorials would be allowed.

But the move left one family so upset they considered exhuming the body of their loved one and moving it to another cemetery.

Other bereaved relatives said the graves were being desecrated.

But after The Argus highlighted the issue, Dignity has agreed to allow families who have wooden crosses, which are generally less expensive than stone, to keep them.

War veteran Bill Lee's widow, Bessie Lee, 83, from Brighton, received a letter from Dignity apologising and announcing the change in policy.

Mrs Lee had been in tears after finding the wooden fence around her husband's grave torn down and being told his varnished mahogany cross would have to go.

Kelly Upton, Mrs Lee's granddaughter, said: "They wrote telling me my grandfather's cross can stay where it is. They also wrote to my grandmother, saying sorry."

When Mr Lee died the family had only been able to afford a wooden cross but regularly varnished it and kept his grave immaculate.

Chrissie Windsor, from Brighton, found a wooden cross belonging to a family member which had been in place for 15 years dumped on the grass. She also received an apology from Dignity.

A spokesman for Dignity yesterday said the rule would apply to families who have had wooden crosses there for a long time and not new families.

He said: "We do realise the way we did things could have been better handled.

"Many families had the wooden crosses in place before Dignity owned the site and we never intended to upset them."