VISITOR Joan Donlan was disgusted to see the state of Leigh Cemetery on Saturday after grass cutters had been at work.

She claimed cuttings had been left, headstones were covered in dried bits of grass and silk and plastic flowers had been cut to shreads and scattered everywhere.

Joan, of Rugby Road, Leigh, is now calling on councillors to have a walk round and see the state of it for themselves.

She said: "I along with hundreds of others go to the cemetery to be close to our loved ones, not to be upset by the mess left strewn around."

She asks if anyone is checking that jobs are being completed properly and making sure the place is left clean and tidy - or is this one place in Leigh that doesn't matter?

I must say that I have never seen the cemetery in anything but a tidy state, though I must admit I've never been happy that a flower stand presented by Parsonage miners in memory of my grandad who was killed there in 1941 has been knocked and broken at some stage, I always suspected by over zealous mowers.

A spokesman for Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust said: "We're sorry to hear of Mrs Donlan's concerns but we're a bit surprised as well. After receiving her letter we inspected the cemetery and could find very little evidence of the situation she describes.

"Our staff take as much care as possible when cutting the grass because they understand that cemeteries mean a lot to visitors. However, they can be difficult areas to maintain because of the number of edgings and ornaments placed round plots by grave owners, and in places the staff have to use strimmers to get round.

"The grass was also longer than normal because of the poor weather we had in May and there would have been more cuttings. If some silk flowers were unwittingly shredded this would not have been done deliberately.

"In general the cemeteries are well maintained by our staff, who take pride in their work, and we can only apologise if Mrs Donlan feels we failed to meet those standards on this occasion."