'Friends think I'm dead': Scots pensioner stunned after discovering own grave in cemetery

A stunned Scots pensioner claims friends think he's dead after the discovery his ex-wife had erected his own gravestone in a local cemetery.

Mr Hattel made the unsettling discovery at Newmonthill Cemetery in Forfar. Picture: Anne Burgess/Geograph

Alan Hattel, 75, was shocked to see his name appear on a memorial slab at Newmonthill Cemetery in Forfar, Angus.Mr Hattel reckons the stone was the work of his ex-wife, Berta, who purchased the plot and wants him to be buried alongside her.

“I don’t even want to be buried – I plan to be cremated.”Having spoken with Angus Council, Alan, who has two grown-up children with his former wife, says he plans to cover up the part of the gravestone bearing his name.He added: “I’ve never, ever said I wanted to be buried alongside my ex-wife.

“We’ve been separated 26 years and there’s no animosity but I’m struggling to take it all in.

“To find out you have a gravestone in a cemetery while you are still alive isn’t something that happens every day.”