The municipality of ‘Shambles’ forces the man to take his own lawn mower to his father’s grave

A man took a lawn mower to a cemetery to cut the grass at his father’s grave after growing fed up with Gedling Borough Council not looking after it. Michael Turner, whose father Alan Turner is buried in Carlton Cemetery, took matters into his own hands after his mother Maria, Alan’s widow, called him crying and sad about how bad the area had become.

Maria said: “It’s a mess. I’ve never known anything like it. It’s gone so downhill. Every time I go I get upset and stressed. We pay the council for services and they don’t deliver. It broke my heart on Sunday I couldn’t handle it. I thought, ‘I can’t handle this.’ At my age I don’t need this.”

Mr Turner died in 2008 aged 58 and was buried in Carlton Hill. At the time the cemetery was well maintained, said Michael, who lives in Linby, and Maria, who lives in Wollaton.

But in the past four years it has taken a turn and has gradually become more neglected, they say. Mrs Turner, 76, visits the site once every one to two weeks and says she sometimes tolerates the state of the graves because she “can’t do anything”.

This time, however, the grass was so high that she could not see the grave. She called Michael, who had reported the poor condition to Gedling Borough Council two years ago, and told them he would charge them for his time if he had to cut back on it himself.

It may have been more of an ironic comment, something he didn’t expect would actually have to happen. But this time, because he was fed up, he took his lawn mower and took to the lawn himself.

Maria said, “He doesn’t have to do that. It’s not his job, is it?’

After mowing the lawn, Michael reported the situation to the council, where an operator told him she would try to connect him to the ground staff phone lines. But she returned the call to tell him no one was available and he would be called back.

He still hasn’t been called back. Although some of the grass in the cemetery appears to have been mowed, this is only the case in certain places.

Michael said it looks like whoever cut it got “bored” with where they were and moved somewhere else. And Mrs Turner wondered if the council had mowed the grass to keep it looking tidy at the bottom of the cemetery as it is visible from the road, but made no effort further up where Mr Turner’s grave is, because most people won’t see it. .

Michael said: “I think it’s very disrespectful. It is a place where every family who has buried someone here comes to pay their respects. And it seems like no one cares. You should be able to go there and be able to get to the grave and walk to it without falling into divots.”

Mel Cryer, head of environment at Gedling Borough Council, said: “We are very sorry for any disruption caused to people visiting the cemetery. The recent wet and warm weather has meant that the grass is growing faster than we can mow it.

“To address the situation we now have an additional vehicle and additional staff. They will also be working at weekends to ensure the cemeteries are looking tidy again. We are very proud of the work we do to keep our cemeteries maintain and fully understand visitors’ frustration.”