The man tasked with fixing a water ingress scandal at two South Ayrshire burial grounds has admitted the job will last “as long as it takes.”
Expert exhumer Peter Mitchell has vowed not to rush any of his work at the crisis-hit Ayr and Troon Cemeteries.
It comes after it was revealed that work to exhume graves at the two graveyards will last until next winter.
It means by the time the last chamber has been worked on, Mr Mitchell and his top team of three trusted workers will have spent almost two full years in Ayrshire.
The squad travelled 500 miles from their base in Kent in a bid to fix major faults with new concrete chambers which were supposed to be ‘airtight and watertight’.
Now they are three months into the painstaking task of individually removing the deceased from graves and draining out water before allowing families to rebury their loved ones.
And Mr Mitchell, who is world renowned in his field after spending 35 years working exhuming graves, even admitted that this task was a step into the unknown.
In his second exclusive interview with Ayrshire Live, the specialist has insisted his team are on course to achieve their goal.
Mr Mitchell said: “The work at both Ayr and Troon will take as long as it takes. We are not going to rush it.
"We are achieving what we set out to achieve. This work requires great sensitivity and we set out to treat each deceased person as if they were our own relative.
“This has never been done before, it is a unique project.
“We weren’t altogether sure on exact details on what we are doing but it is all to be done with the greatest respect so in terms of progress, so far we are achieving that."
Mr Mitchell believes heartbroken families were crying out to be listened to and supported after months of agony.
Ayrshire Live previously told how furious relatives launched a scathing attack on council chiefs after the scandal ravaged all 126 graves in the Ayr extension.
Loved ones blasted careless letters from the local authority claiming they were given “copy and paste” updates through their door, as they were told the devastating news their loved ones had to be exhumed.
Mr Mitchell vowed to meet with every family before embarking on the unique task.
He said: “People wanted to have information and they wanted to be listened to.
“They wanted to feel that they could express their feelings and their thoughts and somebody was actually listening. And then putting their minds at rest.
“People had all sorts of concerns that were based on rumour. I was able to give them straightforward information on exactly what we were doing. It immediately set their minds at rest.”
Mr Mitchell believes he and his team have been able to provide some closure, after meeting with families following reinterments.
He added: “Families have been very appreciative about what we have done.
“They know it’s a very difficult situation but they trust me and they believe that we’ve done everything in the best possible way.
"They are clearly very satisfied that for them it’s all over. It has given them a level of closure about what’s happened.”
Mr Mitchell has explained the process of the works with the deceased being exhumed at the start of the week and then reburied on the Thursday or Friday.
And the team has braved all the west coast of Scotland throws at them, battling all-weathers and difficult conditions.
Mr Mitchell added: “We have a programme saying what chambers are we working on in Monday and Tuesday in terms of exhuming the deceased and what day and time are they coming back on the Thursday and the Friday.
“We can’t afford not to work, because we wouldn’t be able to achieve that which would be catastrophic really for the families.
“This is programmed for weeks ahead. We have to maintain that level of progress. We can’t let the weather stop us.
“We’ve just carried on. We’re tough.”
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