THE parents of a girl killed in a house fire have been ordered to remove the headstone of her grave by the Church of England -- because it claims an engraved portrait of her is unlawful.

Marilyn and Tony Cheetham have been told to remove the memorial to their 24-year-old daughter Hayley from a Harwood churchyard.

The couple, of Brook Bank, Harwood, have now vowed to fight the ruling by the Diocese of Manchester claiming there are at least four other similar headstones in the same graveyard at Christ's Church.

But Church leaders want the parents to remove the memorial insisting that it is forbidden by the "law of the land" relating to church graveyards.

Mr and Mrs Cheetham commissioned the granite headstone, which includes a border of forget-me-not flowers and cost more than £2500, after spotting a similar grave in the same churchyard.

The gravestone, which was produced by stonemason David Wallace who also designed headstones for the young victims of the Warrington bomb blast, was installed on Christmas Eve of last year.The devoted parents, who also have a 24-year-old daughter Melanie, visit the grave every day and have drawn comfort from seeing Hayley's picture.

The couple are "appalled" at the thought of having the stone removed and are determined to fight the decision.

Mr Cheetham, aged 52, said: "When I was told by the police that Hayley had died it was like a dagger in my heart and it's something we will never recover from.

"The only thing left in the world for us to spend money on is for a fitting memorial to Hayley and we wanted her to have the very best.

"We wanted to convey to the world how much we loved her and everyone who has seen the stone has found it beautiful.

"It's not a question of us having spent the money -- because we don't care about that.

"But either there is a clear rule about the type of headstones allowed or there isn't.

"There is absolutely no way we want the other parents to have to remove their headstones which include portraits, but we feel the church has not shown us any compassion in the most tragic time of our lives."

Kathleen and Keith Fletcher from Egerton, whose daughter's headstone inspired the Cheethams to have a similar memorial designed, support their fight.

They lost their 27-year-old daughter Clare in a car accident with her partner Stephen Hadland in Leeds in 1995.

Mrs Fletcher said: "This has brought a lot of upset back for us. Who on earth would Hayley's stone offend?"

The Cheethams ran into problems with the Diocese as soon as they started considering the wording for the stone after being told that "fell asleep" was not appropriate.

The church authorities told the couple an engraved headstone was also unacceptable.

Mrs Cheetham, aged 49, said: "We just couldn't believe what we were being told and were heartbroken when we were sent a letter from the Diocese referring to Hayley as the "interred corpse" -- it was just terrible."

Former Turton High School pupil Hayley, who worked as a sales representative for L'Oreal cosmetics, died in February last year when a ferocious blaze swept through a listed timber cottage after a house party in Esher, Surrey.

She had travelled south with a friend, from Heywood, for the party which was also attended by EastEnders TV star Dean Gaffney, who plays Robbie in the soap opera.

Church must uphold law in 'regrettable' situation

A SPOKESMAN for the Diocese of Manchester said: "We have the greatest sympathy for Mr and Mrs Cheetham and fully understand their wish to make a public statement of their love for Hayley and the loss they feel as a result of her death.

"We are also aware that there are at least two engraved portraits on graves in the vicinity.

"Unfortunately, those engravings are unlawful, having been permitted by a former incumbent when he was comparatively young and new to the parish.

"He was unaware of the extent of his authority and did not seek advice about it.

"These unlawful engravings have remained only because those commissioning them genuinely believed they had been given permission and acted in good faith.

"It is an unfortunate precedent but it is not one for altering the law.

"Several other applications for engraved portraits have been made and all have been refused.

"That is because the rules are not simply regulations made by the Diocese of Manchester, or even the Church of England, but are part of the law of the land concerning church graveyards.

"We have been in detailed correspondence with Mr and Mrs Cheetham over the past 12 months, and went as far as we could to allow them a memorial in keeping with existing regulations.

"They were told an engraved portrait could not be part of the memorial, but were given the opportunity to appeal against the decisions by taking the matter to a consistory court. This they decided not to do. When the memorial was finally put in place, it included an engraved portrait, for which they had not been given permission. There is no choice but to ask Mr and Mrs Cheetham to remove the memorial in its present form. We are aware of the sensitivity of the situation, and fully understand Mr and Mrs Cheetham's feelings. It is a very regrettable situation. We must emphasise that they knew the consequences of their action from the outset."