A VISITOR to a cemetery has been left disgusted after a spate of vandalism at his mother’s grave.

Neil Shaw, aged 48, has visited his mother’s gravestone every fortnight since her death to lay flowers with his wife Janette.

But over the last month or so, as he’s arrived at the burial ground off Cemetery Street, he has found the flower pots pulled out and discarded.

He also claims that some graves on the site look like they have been pushed over or partially pushed over.

Mr Shaw said: “We went about a fortnight ago and the flowers have been ripped off the gravestone. When we went back the same had happened again but there were a lot more gravestones that had been done.

“It looks like they have tried to push some of them over and they weren’t the older ones, they were relatively new gravestones.

“They have obviously tried to push some of them over and there were flower pots pulled out. They had just been ripped off.

“The first time we went we just dismissed it but when we went up last time there were quite a few items that had been moved around and a few that had been pushed over.”

During a recent visit, Mr Shaw took photos of some of the vandalism, showing several flower pots had been removed from holders and thrown on the ground.

He said there were as many as half a dozen flower pots, besides his mother’s, that had been pulled up and there was also damage to some of the headstones.

Mr Shaw is now hoping that whoever has been causing damage to his mother’s burial site is caught and the incidents stop.

He said: “I think it’s just disgraceful to do that to someone’s gravestone.

“It’s awful and the people who do it are just scumbags.

“I don’t think they would appreciate it if someone did that to one of their family members’ gravestones.”

A spokesman for Bolton Council, which is responsible for the upkeep of Westhoughton Cemetery, said: “We understand that it is very upsetting when a loved one’s grave is disturbed and we will do all we can to assist Mr Shaw.

“We have not had any reports of vandalism at Westhoughton Cemetery and if Mr Shaw contacts us we will look into this.”