A MALVERN mum who lost her son at the age of four is distraught that the stone she chose for his grave was taken away hours after what would have been his seventh birthday.

Jo Corbett's son Max died in 2013 and last Friday, the stone she had commissioned was placed on his grave at Great Malvern Cemetery, ahead of his seventh birthday, which would have been on Sunday.

But on Monday, Malvern Town Council contacted Andrew Devereaux, the mason who had installed it, saying it would have to be removed.

And this week the council told the Gazette that the mason has not got the proper permission or ensured the design was in compliance with cemetery rules.

Ms Corbett, aged 42, said that when she chose her son's grave site she was not told about any restrictions on headstones.

She said: "If I had been, I might have looked somewhere else. I couldn't believe it when the stonemason said the council had told him if he didn't remove it, they would.

"It's made me really angry. I won't let this rest. I won't give up until the stone is back where it belongs, on my little boy's grave."

She said that Max had suffered severe epilepsy and dystonia all his life.

Mr Devereaux of Town and Country Stonemasons, of Blackpole, Worcester, said: "I'd had the stone for a couple of weeks and Jo came to me with the inscription she wanted on Tuesday [May 27], and she wanted it installed by her son's birthday on the Sunday.

"I put in the application to the council on Friday and installed the stone the same day. It was all bit last-minute, but I just wanted to do the right thing. It's a very emotional, difficult situation and nobody is finding it more difficult that Jo."

A statement sent to the Gazette by the town council yesterday said: "Malvern Town Council feels great sympathy for Ms Corbett for her great loss and is very sorry for her distress at being put in an intolerable position regarding the gravestone.

"Regrettably, the memorial stone that was erected on Ms Corbett’s son’s grave was done so by a memorial mason who did not obtain the necessary permission, and who did not consult with town council officers as to whether the headstone was in compliance with the cemetery rules and regulations.

"This situation was not the fault of Ms Corbett, but of the stonemason who made a gravestone that was unsuitable for the position in which it was to be erected, and which was also put in place without the necessary permission; the application form was posted under the door of the town council offices just hours before the stone was erected."

The statement says the application process is clear and the mason's failure to follow the rules had caused "a lot of unnecessary distress".

"Officers of the town council, along with the mayor and deputy mayor, welcome the opportunity to discuss this situation with the family, and very much hope that an agreeable solution can be reached."