A grieving family slammed 'insensitive and disrespectful' diggers who piled 5ft of soil excavated from another plot onto a grandfather's grave.
Roy Thompson, from Levenshulme, was buried in a plot at Southern Cemetery in Chorlton on March 10. He died aged 88 following a battle with cancer.
Although no headstone has yet been erected, his family left flowers and other mementoes of his life on the plot. But when his family and widow turned up on Thursday morning, they found the flowers and other items had been removed and soil from a freshly dug adjacent plot had been piled high onto Roy's grave.
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The sight left his widow Beverley, who was there to celebrate her birthday with her late husband, shocked and in tears, according to her family. The council has admitted grave diggers sometimes pile soil onto existing plots but insist staff do their 'utmost to respect nearby graves'.
Relatives from London, Leicester and Coventry had travelled north to pay their respects to the father of father-of-five, a retired plumber. His son Anthony, 55, from London, told the M.E.N : "It's pretty insensitive and quite disrespectful.
"They are just assuming nobody will turn up. There is memorabilia and flowers which have just been moved to another grave. My father is buried beneath the mound of dirt but the flowers and name sign is placed in front of another plot, giving the impression my father is buried there.
"For anyone visiting my father who didn't attend the burial would believe this is where he is laid to rest. It's very disappointing and upsetting. The soil could have been put elsewhere."
The family say they complained at the Southern Cemetery office but report they were told what had happened was 'legal and commonplace'.
"It's not a matter of it being legal. I find it disrespectful and insensitive," said Anthony, who urged the council to review its policy.
Roy's niece Donna Morris said his widow, who had been with him for more than 30 years, was left 'very tearful'. She had come to celebrate her 75th birthday with him.
"It's her birthday and she wanted to be with him and this is what we have found. The flowers have just been moved to another grave. It beggars belief.. We've come to have a sing-song and say prayers and this is what happened," said Donna.
The actions of grave diggers have upset other families. In 2020, the M.E.N. reported the anger of Sara Crompton, 26, and her sister Zoe, from Wythenshawe, after the discovered their late mum's plot had been covered in soil.
Their mum, Sandra Wolstenholme-Crompton, is buried at Southern Cemetery in Chorlton. She died of breast cancer in 2019. Pictures at the time showed a huge mound of soil covering much of Sandra's grave. Her headstone was protected by a wooden board, but Sara said memorabilia next to the grave was damaged.
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: "The Council's Bereavement Services Team does its utmost to respect nearby graves when carrying out excavations. In some cases excavated earth is placed on adjacent graves during this process, but at all times staff carry out their duty with care and do their best not to disturb the original grave site."
