GRAVESTONES in a cemetery which contains the ashes of a movie star in North Yorkshire have been re-erected after safety work.

Harrogate Borough Council has restored over 300 memorials at the town’s Harlow Hill Cemetery.

The move comes after six-year-old Reuben Powell was crushed to death in July 2000 by a 5feet tall slab at Harrogate Cemetery.

The council laid down over 650 memorials and gravestones in its area to ensure that they were put back up in a safe manner.

The work in the cemetery has been done by workers under the Probation Service.

Councillor Les Ellington, cabinet member for public protection, said: "Not only is this bringing benefit to local communities and saving public funds, it has also helped many of the probationers gain employment related skills that may help with their future."

There is also specialist workers carrying out tasks in the cemeteries too.

Amongst the dead at the Harlow Hill Cemetery is Michael Rennie who starred in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still.

He appeared as the alien visitor Klaatu who came to Earth with his giant robot Gort to warn man to stop his warlike actions.

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in 1871 Michael Rennie died in 1971 and is interred in his family plot.