A FIFTH of the 300,000 headstones in Glasgow's cemeteries are so unstable they pose ''an immediate danger'' to people paying their respects to loved ones, according to a new survey by the city council.

The scale of disrepair of 60,000 headstones has forced the council, which oversees 2000 burials a year, to produce a new code of practice for graveyards.

In future, lair holders will be obliged to use headstones with a 30-year guarantee and take out insurance cover against damage and vandalism.

Lair holders who fail to keep their plots safe will not be allowed to use them for further burials, meaning families could be separated after death.

The new rules are expected to be rubber-stamped by councillors next week and come into force later this year. They will affect fresh lair holders, and will not apply retrospectively.

John Conway, parks operations manager with Glasgow City Council, said a survey of the city's 33 municipal graveyards which started three months ago had already revealed a ''serious problem'' with fallen and unstable headstones.

He said: ''The insurance costs for people should not be expensive. Headstones built to parameters set for stonemasons should last 30 years, so there should not be a problem with that. It's primarily insurance against vandalism. But if people don't maintain a lair then they won't be allowed to have any more burials in it.''

The current cost of buying a council lair in perpetuity is (pounds) 550 for a Glasgow resident, or (pounds) 900 for a non-resident. Each lair is typically large enough to hold four coffins.

In theory, the price only pays for maintenance of the grass by the council - the upkeep of any headstone falls to the lair holder. However, in practice, it is the council, as the burial authority, which has a common law duty of care to any visitors to the cemetery, and is left picking up any bills for repairs.

A report going to the council's parks and facilities committee next week says a new code is needed to resolve conflicts over responsibility and ''ensure the longevity of a safe cemetery environment''.

The report blames poor construction, vandalism, and weather damage for the majority of the safety problems. The new code of practice means every future headstone design - including colour, weight, size, stone type and inscription - will have to be approved in advance by a registrar of cemeteries and crematoria.