A WOMAN has criticised the upkeep of a city cemetery asfter she had to get down on her hands and knees to clear freshly-cut long grass from her parents graves.

Maxine Houghton, 52, of Blacon, regularly visits the graves of her parents Malcolm and Florence Houghton at the cemetery in Overleigh Road, Handbridge.

She had reported long grass in the cemetery but - when it had been cut - she was upset to see the grass had been left to blow over the graves.

Maxine, who has visited her father’s grave every week for the last 32 years, said she was reduced to tears when she saw the state of the plot.

She said: “I was heartbroken and shocked. I was crying.

“There was what I can only describe as hay strewn all over the graves. I am disabled and I had to get down on my hands and knees to clean it off the graves myself.

“In 32 years I have never seen the cemetery look as bad as this. It is a shambles.

“It’s like they just don’t care about Handbridge anymore.”

She reported “the grass was up to three feet high“ and after her father’s plot number was taken down the grass in that area was cut.

But the grass was not collected and had covered the graves when Maxine returned to the cemetery a week later.

Cheshire West and Chester Council said that the weather conditions in March and April had created difficulties but that issues should be resolved within weeks.

Councillor Karen Shore, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “I am sorry to hear that there are concerns about our grass cutting operations at Overleigh cemetery. We take pride in ensuring that our cemeteries in particular are well maintained.

“We have two staff members based permanently at Overleigh Cemetery and the grass is cut on a three week cycle. Due to the nature of the location, strimmers have to be used, which is a slow method, with a lot of cleaning up needed.

"Our teams have been challenged by a difficult start to grass cutting operations this season, following a very wet March that held up mowing, and a warm April that saw rapid grass growth. We hope to have all cemeteries, parks and open spaces back to the required standard by the end of this month.”