Complaints over 'shocking' overgrown cemetery

Some graves have been left buried under grass

Complaints have been made about overgrowth at a cemetery described as "shocking" by one resident.

Images taken at London Road Cemetery in Coventry showed grass almost covering some of the gravestones on part of the site.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said they had relatives buried at the cemetery and that the state of it made her "very sad".

Coventry City Council apologised and said the recent wet weather had affected the maintenance work at its cemeteries.

The resident said: "I was shocked at how long the grass is, the whole cemetery is overgrown and unkempt.

"I feel very sad about it. I have relatives there that have been through two world wars. There is no respect."

She said she understood the weather had not been great, but claimed there had been a week’s worth of growth at the cemetery.

A spokesperson for the city council said: "Unfortunately the wet weather recently has meant we have been unable to complete as much spring grounds maintenance work at our six cemeteries as we would have wished by this time of year."

They said the local authority was working hard to catch up and would continue to work throughout the summer and autumn.

"Our teams work hard to make sure our cemeteries are kept to a high standard and we apologise for the delays to some maintenance work and assure residents it will be completed as soon as possible," they added.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.