Some masons in Worcester are angry at a proposal by the council to make membership of the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) a condition of being on the Select List of masons allowed to fix memorials in the council\'s cemeteries.

Ian Yates, Worcester\'s parks and cemeteries manager, has confirmed to NSS that NAMM membership is likely to become a prerequisite. "That\'s one area I\'m convinced there\'s no other option. I\'ve got to be sure the people on my Select List are competent."

He said in other fields membership of a trade body was considered to be a bench mark of quality and he believed it could be for memorial masons. The council is a corporate member of NAMM.

Worcester is not the first council to make NAMM membership a requirement. Argyle & Bute started it at the end of 1999. Since then a few others have done the same.

But a non-NAMM mason of Worcester (who preferred not to be identified) said there were five masons in the city who regularly worked in the council\'s cemeteries and crematoria who were not currently NAMM members.

He said: "I have been fixing memorials for 20 years. NAMM membership will cost me £400 a year and I can\'t see any benefit from that."

The mason said the council had also proposed requiring memorials to be insured for 40 years against injury claims of up to £5million and that no insurance company would offer such a policy.

However, Ian Yates said that while the council certainly was concerned about safety in cemeteries on behalf of constituents, any proposals for changes would be discussed at the Cemeteries & Crematoria Liaison Committee in which all contractors working in the cemeteries and cremetoria were entitled to participate. "The expression cart and horses seems appropriate," he said.

"I would hope you would portray that there\'s a consultation group and we do actively encourage the participation of our business partners. The majority of decisions are made at that forum before going to the council."