Grieving mother devastated as her son’s grave ‘destroyed’ after Harworth cemetery change regulations

A grieving mother has been left looking for answers after Harworth and Bircotes Town Council ban flowers and decorations from in front of graves and cremated remains.

Maria Lyons, 61, visits her son’s grave everyday. On Monday August 23, Maria got out of her car to find the grave in a state that she thought was “an act of vandalism”.

“I was absolutely distraught to see it like that,” she said. “In the bin bags was every plant that had been on my son’s grave.”

William Lyons tragically died two years ago and his mother maintained his grave with seasonal flowers all year round.

She continued: “The new cemetery is six years old now since the first person went in there, so why didn’t they do this from the off? The amount of people that don't know, they're going to be devastated, they're going to be absolutely devastated. I've never heard anything like it.

“When you lose somebody you can't buy them a birthday present, you can't buy them a Christmas present.

“All I can do for my son is keep his grave nice so it's an attribute to him.

“We tended that grave and we always cut the grass ourselves, and put all the plants in it. I could understand it if it was unkempt.”

After requesting a comment from Harworth and Bircotes Town Council, a spokesperson issued the following statement.

“The Town Council is sorry for any distress or inconvenience caused. We are asking families to comply with the regulations obtaining to the overall management and safety issues of the cemeteries; which are aligned to those used by the District Council. A copy of the regulations are given to the owner of the plot following the burial of their relative.

“Advance notice of the removal of unauthorised items was given; as per the photos, this then gave the families time to adhere to the cemetery regulations.”

The notices were placed in four locations around the cemetery and gave a total of five weeks notice before the removal of the now unauthorised items.