A Blairgowrie resident has hit out at council workers after a truck got stuck in a grave at the Perthshire town’s cemetery.
Doug Mackie witnessed what he described as a “terrible” incident last week when a truck which was removing scrub from the cemetery got stuck in a sunken grave and had to be towed out by another vehicle.
He said: “I can’t believe a lorry was stuck in a grave.
“I can’t believe they did this, it’s a disgrace and I am absolutely disgusted with them. They had to get another vehicle to tow them out – that’s how bad it was.”
Explaining what happened Mr Mackie said: “The council have been in taking bits of the trees and bushes that they have cut back away but the trucks shouldn’t be on the grass.
“They should stick to the paths and the council workers should just carry the scrub and branches back out to the trucks, it’s not far. It’s there on the notices in the cemetery that you don’t take cars in but they are going in with their lorries.”
He went on: “I am livid at the way they have treated these graves, imagine getting stuck in a grave.
“There should be a bit more respect, it’s so disrespectful for the people that are buried here. What are people going to think when they come to visit their relatives’ graves and see this?
“They have even left the board that they used under the wheels to get the truck out – they can’t say they weren’t stuck when that’s right there and there are tyre tracks on the grass.
“A truck shouldn’t be on the graves or on the grass. Imagine taking a lorry in there right in between the headstones. I can’t believe they did that on top of people’s graves, it is just wrong. You don’t drive a lorry over folks’ graves.”
Mr Mackie added that many of the graves in the cemetery are sinking, which makes cutting the grass difficult, and he called on the council to fill them in.
He said: “Some of the graves have sunk right down, up to 10 inches in some places.
“Why can’t they just fill them in? They need to be. It would make cutting the grass easier which would keep the place looking nicer.
“It’s the lack of care and attention for the place that gets me, this is supposed to be a place of sanctuary where people can come to remember their loved ones and yet the council workers couldn’t seem to care less. I’ve had so many people complain to me about it but no one ever does anything about it.”
Caroline Shiers is one of the local councillors for the Blairgowrie and the Glens ward.
She said: “I am very disappointed to hear of this and I have raised this with the council. I know how upsetting any issues with our cemeteries are to residents and our teams are aware of that too.”
Fellow ward councillor Tom McEwan said that the situation needed to be looked at as it was unacceptable that families had been upset.
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said in a statement: “We always carry out maintenance of our cemeteries in as respectful a manner as possible and regret any distress this incident caused.
“The vehicle became stuck because the ground was wet and our crews carried out a temporary repair immediately.
“A site visit was carried out on Monday to assess what work is required to restore the ground to its previous
standard.”
