Extra efforts must be made to stop graves being swallowed up by rapidly growing grass, say visitors.

Two weeks ago, we reported how some visiting Gravesend cemetery - including Stella Pennell of Tooley Street, Northfleet, whose parents are buried there - were cutting the grass themselves because it was swamping graves.

Her calls for the council to step up maintenance have been backed by Ann Ellis, 55, of Exeter Road, who has several relatives buried at the site, including her mother, Rosie Boughen, who died in 1999, aged 61.

She said: “It’s totally disrespectful, it’s somewhere where people go to pay their respects to someone that’s no longer with them.

“There should be someone specifically allotted to the place - to look after the upkeep of the grounds.”

Gravesham council stuck to its original statement, issued last week, which said: “We do cut the grass at our cemeteries but the combination of rain and sunshine, as every gardener knows, leads to very rapid growth of grass at this time of year.

"Our grass cutting has to be scheduled around funerals but we are cutting the grass as fast as resources and weather allow.”

A spokesman added: “There have been a number of burials recently. That has affected the maintenance regime.”