A Sittingbourne mum has been given an unreserved apology after her son’s grave was covered in mud and tampered with by contractors.

Debbie Pettit, landlady at The White Horse in Charlotte Street, received a call from daughter Jaynie Hollister to say as well as the debris, vases and an ornament had been moved from the family plot in the cemetery off Capel Road, Sittingbourne.

A large pile of earth, partially covered by blue tarpaulin, has been left by grave-diggers after they dug a nearby plot.

The cemetery is managed by Swale council.

It is where Louis Hollister, Debbie’s son, is buried. He died at an hour old almost 33 years ago.

The 52-year-old said: “I’m devastated, I was going to go and have a look but I can’t.

“I feel like I’ve offered my son no protection, even in death.

“Why can’t they put the mud from a grave into a dump truck and move it away?”

Her son’s grave, which has Winnie the Pooh on the headstone, normally has a concrete teddy bear ornament, but it has been moved.

She added: “They’ve used some of my son’s things to weigh down the covers. I thought I’d be more angry but I’m just too upset.

“There were two vases there too and I don’t know where they’ve gone either.

“I can’t believe how devastated I feel, I’m just in shock.”

Debbie added she was told by the council there was to be a burial tomorrow.

A Swale council spokesman said: “We would like to unreservedly apologise to the family for the distress caused, and we have spoken to them directly about the incident.

“This is being taken extremely seriously, and we are already in discussions with our contractors to establish how it happened, and how we can prevent it happening again.”