THE widow of a man whose ashes are buried in Dean’s Park near York Minster has spoken out in support of the opening of a tipi bar in the park.

Margaret Hullis said she was happy with Sol Ast and believed her late husband John would have backed it as well.

She also said she was a member of the Friends of York Minster and quite understood the need to raise funds to help pay for the cathedral’s conservation.

Mrs Hullis, of Rawcliffe, contacted The Press yesterday to speak out after the newspaper reported the concerns of Mr Hullis’ daughter Elin about the pop-up bar.

She said she liked to visit their father’s last resting place for quiet contemplation and to remember him in the usually tranquil setting of the park.

She said she felt the bar, which opened last week, was "totally disrespectful" to the loved ones of her father and others resting in peace.

A Minster spokeswoman said great care had been taken not to propose any activities encroaching on the memorial garden and ashes interred there, and the Minster received no state funding and relied on donations, fundraising and visitor income.