Grieving families angry at state of Swindon cemetery

Ms Acton said it was "a bit of a disgrace" to find her son's grave "in this state"

Grieving families have said they are angry with a council for the lack of care put into maintaining a cemetery.

Jo Wilson, whose baby son Christian died in 1996, is among people upset over Swindon's Whitworth Road Cemetery.

Ms Wilson said when she came to visit her son's grave, she discovered gardeners had driven over it.

"His effects were gone and they'd broken his marker in half," she said. "Apparently they weren't aware that it was a baby's grave."

Swindon Borough Council said "We would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Wilson for the damage to the marker on her child's grave.

"We fully appreciate the distress this has caused and we have offered to replace the grave marker."

The council added it understood why people were frustrated about the site and said extra staff joined the grounds team on Monday.

Gardeners drove over baby Christian's grave, breaking his grave marker in half

Other people have also complained about the state of the cemetery.

Christina Acton's son Lewis died in 2006 at 12 days old.

"We come about once a month to visit but we have never seen it in this state," Ms Acton said.

"We don't know what's going on down here, it's a bit of a disgrace."

Irena Krupa comes to the cemetery to visit her grandad's grave and thinks the state of the cemetery is "despicable"

Irena Krupa who visits her grandad's grave at the cemetery is also upset.

"I'm speechless, it's despicable," Ms Krupa said. "The state of this cemetery, I've never seen anything like it.

"This is so embarrassing and disrespectful."

The council said extra staff had now joined the grounds team

Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council's cabinet member for the environment and transport, said: "I completely understand why people are frustrated with the lack of maintenance in certain sections of Whitworth Road cemetery."

He said having the extra staff would be a "big help".

"But I would ask that local residents and visitors bear with us as it will take a little bit of time to get the cemetery back into a manageable maintenance routine," he added.

"This is because staff need to take extra care around the graves to make sure no items that are left there are damaged."