Eastbourne man ‘disgusted’ at state of wife’s grave

Steven Perkins visits his wife’s grave at Langney Cemetery on a weekly basis but last month said he was ‘disgusted’ to find the grave covered in grass cuttings.

Mr Perkins said there was a man strimming the site at the time, but due to the lack of blower equipment, the cuttings were left all over the plots – something he says is only going to get worse through the wet and cold weather ahead.

He said, “This is a regular occurrence. The strimmer breaks things too – it was a mess.”

Mr Perkins said he spoke to the man who was strimming, who told him he isn’t supplied with a blower.

He said, “He couldn’t have been more apologetic. He didn’t have the proper tools. I can understand they need to do a job, but the way it was left was a disgrace.”

Following that conversation, Mr Perkins phoned the contractors in charge of maintaining the cemetery.

Mr Perkins said, “It was a short conversation and whoever I spoke to didn’t seem to care really.”

According to Mr Perkins, a supervisor for the contractors turned up but didn’t approache Mr Perkins to offer him an apology.

Mr Perkins said, “I thanked the young lad strimming but I’m a bit disgusted with the company for the lack of respect.

“They need to be more thoughtful about how they do their job.”

A spokesperson from Eastbourne Borough Council – which assigns the contractors – said, “In order to avoid damaging gravestones we do not use lawnmowers around graves and instead use strimmers.

“As these do not have built-in collection facilities like lawnmowers, there are likely to be grass cuttings left on the ground.

“There is a necessary time delay between the cutting of each section of grass and when contractors return to clear it away using blowers and brooms, so anyone visiting during this time may see more cuttings around than usual.

“Our contractors take away the majority of cuttings but are unable to ensure each gravestone is left completely clear of grass.”