Carleton Cemetery: Parents angry after children's graves left flooded

Parents say the cemetery in Carleton regularly floods

Bereaved parents are calling for improvements to the drainage system at a cemetery after dozens of children's graves were flooded by heavy rain.

Parts of Carleton Babies Memorial Garden near Blackpool were left submerged in water on Sunday.

Lia Mayland, who has started a petition calling for better drainage, said: "Our babies resting places are being flooded in bad weather every year."

Blackpool Council said drainage had been improved earlier this year.

Ms Mayland said the graves had been flooded several times and mementos had been seen floating in surface water, leaving families distressed.

Blackpool Council said the recent flood water had drained away "very quickly"

She said: "Not only have we lost our children but we have to watch them each year be flooded underwater.

"We need better drainage and, if it does flood, permission to get the water pumped and better pathways to our little ones."

Some 13,000 signatures have now been collected on an online petition.

The council insisted the cemetery does not flood regularly and said improvements had been made earlier this year to make water drain more quickly.

The authority said manually pumping water needed to be carefully considered because of regulations on the disposal of water from burial grounds.

Sue Tolley, the council's bereavement manager, said the recent flooding had been "very unfortunate" but Monday morning there was "no evidence whatsoever" of any remaining flooding.

She added that engineers had been to see if any further improvements could be made.

This time "the sheer volume of rain" meant it had taken longer for the water to be pumped away, she said.

Any families with concerns have been urged to contact Carleton Crematorium.