Public safety prompts restrictions to cemetery visits on Eid

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has announced that there will be limited vehicle access to Pleasington cemetery between 8.30am and 12noon on Eid-ul-Fitr, which is expected to fall on Saturday 23, Sunday 24 or Monday 25 May.

On these dates, marshals will be at the entrance to the cemetery on Tower Road between 8am and 12 noon.

The measure has been introduced to ensure public safety for everyone visiting the graves of their loved ones on these days.

Exceptions will be made for anyone with mobility issues and elderly people, who will be directed to the cemetery’s Pleasington car park, and anyone attending funerals.

Cemeteries in Blackburn with Darwen reopened on 23 April with guidance issued around visiting outside of daytime operational hours, to avoid disruption to funerals and to maintain public safety.

Maulana Rafiq Sufi, Chair of Lancashire Council Mosques, said:

Although it is traditional to visit the cemetery on Eid, we request that, in the current crisis, only essential visits are made.

We appeal to Muslim households to continue to abide by the lockdown measures to stay at home. If they do visit the cemetery on Eid Day, please only visit with members of your own household. Do not arrange to meet up in groups at the cemetery.

Anyone who does plan to visit the cemetery should consider avoiding busy periods, ideally visit before 8am and after 5pm.

Councillor Mohammed Khan, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said:

We appreciate that Eid is a time when many families wish to visit the graves of loved ones to pay their respects. We have to accept that, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this Eid is very different to any we have experienced before.

The most important thing is to keep yourself and your loved ones safe, and that means observing Eid at home.

Eid-ul-Fitr is the Islamic religious festival that marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.

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