An insult to dignity.

Our pictures of the gravestones at Weetslade Cemetery look surreal to say the least.

North Tyneside Council has erected the wooden "stakes" to make the headstones safer. But surely there must be less intrusive ways of keeping the stones propped up?

The local authority has a statutory duty to ensure graves are safe, and no-one could argue with that. The last thing anyone wants to see is the gravestone of a loved one fall down or for someone to be injured by it.

But there is shoring it up and there is shoring it up.

Council chiefs have since apologised. They must now go back to the drawing board and work out a less intrusive and unsightly way of maintaining the graves.

It is distressing enough visiting a grave at the best of times, without having to contend with this too.

Help needed

One of the first stages of rehabilitation for an addict is for that person to realise they have a problem.

Christopher Jones realises he is a heroin addict and is desperate to get off the drug.

He has spent time on rehabilitation programmes but has now begged magistrates to send him to jail to save his life.

Only by being locked up behind bars does he believe he can come off the drug.

Our War on Drugs campaign has highlighted the great work rehabilitation programmes do and called for more to be available.

We can only hope a solution can be found and Jones does indeed find a way to end his heroin addiction, before that addiction ends his life.