Elderly woman ‘careered’ through two walls in car at cemetery

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

An elderly woman crashed through two walls at a cemetery when she drove there to visit a grave.

On July 14, the woman “careered” into the cloister which forms part of a garden of remembrance at North East Surrey Crematorium in Lower Morden Lane.

It was made safe by staff and cordoned off to the public after she mistook the accelerator for the brake.

The woman was unhurt, apart from some grazing, but was so shaken by the crash she agreed to stop driving, a meeting heard. Demolished parts of the brickwork will now need to be rebuilt.

At a meeting of the crematorium’s board yesterday, surveyor Chris Andrews said: “A lady who had been visiting the cemetery lost control of her car. She hit the walls quite badly and went through one side of the wall and hit the other wall.

“She thinks she put her foot on the accelerator rather than the brake. She is quite an elderly lady and I think her sons had implored her to stop driving. I think she has agreed to after this.

“She was unhurt and she did the right thing and reported it to the crematorium. It is being dealt with by the respective insurers and we are just about to appoint a builder to rebuild the two walls.”

The majority of the cloister walkway was unaffected and it will remain open while the work takes place. The board which includes councillors from Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth met at the Sutton Civic Centre.

Pictured top: North East Surrey Crematorium, Morden (Picture: Google Maps)