Image caption Farndon Council wants the Sudoku puzzle removed from the gravestone

The widow of a mathematician has been told to remove a Sudoku puzzle from his gravestone by the council.

Angela Robinson, from Chester, has been ordered to take off the inscriptions from her husband Allan's grave.

Farndon Parish Council said the grave breached the standards for St Chad's church graveyard.

Mrs Robinson said: "Other graves I've seen have a dolphin and even a deck of cards, so if they can remain why can't this?"

Mr Robinson, who died aged 66 in May 2012, had worked as a numerical analyst had not given any instructions about his grave when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

"I just thought this would be a good tribute to him," said Mrs Robinson.

"We are talking about a two-inch square Sudoku puzzle and a one line mathematical equation because my husband was a mathematician and did a lot of Sudoku puzzles.

'Inappropriate headstones'

"He was a bit of a fanatic, but this is personal to him. How can they possibly say what we have put on there is lowering standards?"

Mrs Robinson said the stonemason did not realise they had a duty to consult the parish council.

"If the council had objected then, I would probably have agreed not to have the inscription, but now it is there I am standing my ground," she said.

The parish council said the stone was against regulations and had to be removed.

"It contravenes the guidelines that we laid down two years ago," parish councillor Sue Rowlandson said.

"We were becoming concerned about the inappropriateness of some of the things that were appearing on headstones.

"We agreed a set of guidelines that there would be simple inscriptions. You've got to have a set of guidelines and that's what we're doing."

The council will discuss the matter next month.