A mother has expressed her heartbreak after finding dog mess on her baby’s grave.

Jo Ripley lost nine-day old Rosalie-Jade in 2015 and her daughter was later buried in Bybrook Cemetery, Kennington.

She said: “On Sunday my husband and I were due to visit Rosalie-Jade’s grave.

"I got a call in the morning from my grandparents, who visited her grave and found the dog mess.

“I’ve found three lots of dog mess on her grave and she’s only been buried there 19 months.

"I’ve spent so much maintaining Rosalie-Jade’s grave and I’m also saving up for her headstone because I’m trying to make her grave as nice as possible.

“I’m devastated. My daughter couldn’t come home because she was taken from us so to me her grave is like her little home.”

After receiving complaints last year, Ashford Borough Council (ABC) introduced new rules for dog walkers in cemeteries, requiring them to keep their pets on leads and owners have to clean up after their dog.

People can also receive on the spot fines from ABC’s dog warden if they don’t clean up.

However, Mrs Ripley has started a petition to get dogs banned from Bybrook Cemetery.

She said: “It’s not the dogs’ fault, it’s the owners. They allow their dogs off the lead and we’re the ones that have clear up the mess.

"The cemetery isn’t a place to walk dogs. There’s no action being taken, I want dogs banned from the cemetery.”

An ABC spokesman said: “Dog fouling is a serious issue, particularly in cemeteries as they should be a quiet place of reflection and visitors should not have to see dog mess on graves.

“We gladly welcome a petition and we hope that by working together, we can make our cemeteries a cleaner and more pleasant place to visit.”

Mrs Ripley is hoping the petition will get over 1,000 signatures.

She said: “My daughter went through so much before she died, I couldn’t do anything then but I can do something now.

“The cemetery is a place of peace and rest. It’s sad enough to lose our loved ones and then for this to happen, it’s heartbreaking.”

The petition can be found online at: www.ipetitions.com/petition/to-ban-all-dogs-from-bybrook-cemetery-ashford.

The petition has produced scores of online comments:

Clare Bear: “How disrespectful of people to let this happen.”

Rosie-Ann Murphy-Pennock: “This has got me really angry, I am so sorry that people think it’s OK to show this disrespect and outright ignorance.”

Lisa Gilbert: “I am a dog owner but would not think of letting my dog in there, let alone off a lead.”

Shani Southern: “I go to my son’s grave every week at Bybrook Cemetery and I have to watch people walking their dogs and I have on numerous occasions told the walkers to stop letting their dogs urinate over the headstones.”

Zowie Russell: “My mum is buried there and the thought of dogs mess near her grave is enough to make my blood boil.”

Doreen Mackman: “I have witnessed dogs messing on four occasions and have made a point of telling the owners and they just walk away.”