RELATIVES upset by grass cuttings covering their loved ones’ graves have been told by a council boss it has “more important” priorities.

Colleen Green complained to Hook Norton Parish Council over grass over headstones and tyre tracks in the lawn at the village’s cemetery.

Mrs Green, whose parents Marjorie and Colin Stockford are buried at the cemetery, said: “It’s all the long dried grass, it was like a hay field. It completely covered the graves and the flowers.

“The clippings had obviously been thrown over them when the grass was mowed by contractors.”

The 55-year-old mum-of-one said: “It’s an absolute disgrace and very upsetting.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards.

“It takes a lot of courage to go to a cemetery and it needs to be a place where people can relax and have special moments.

“How can you remember those moments when you’ve got a grave that’s all covered in mown grass and hay? It’s absolutely everywhere.

But council chairwoman Emma Kane said: “We don’t have the funds to completely clear the grass cuttings up.

“We have more important ways to spend our council budget.”

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