An Aberystwyth visitor who came to pay respects to relatives buried at the town’s cemetery - including a former mayor - has labelled the state of the facility a “disgrace”.

Alan Halls, from Southend-on-Sea in Essex, made one of his regular trips to Aberystwyth last week and wanted to pay respect at family members’ graves at the cemetery at Plascrug along with his daughter and granddaughters.

But, he said, some of the graves he could not even reach - including that of his uncle, former Aberystwyth town mayor William Gwyrfai Kitchin.

“I think it is an absolute disgrace,” he told the Cambrian News.

“Some areas of the cemetery you can’t even get to. We had to climb over graves to reach our family’s ones.

“It is so disrespectful to the people buried there to have the cemetery in such a distasteful condition.

“We have visited many times, and years ago it was such a serene and beautiful place with a lovely outlook where we could sit and reflect and pay respects. Now it is just a disgrace and something needs to be done. It’s just not right.”

Mr Halls also said that the length of the grass, which he said was past knee-high in places, was a health and safety risk.

He said he had contacted Ceredigion County Council to complain.

A council spokesperson told the Cambrian News: “The grass at Plascrug Cemetery is cut on a programmed basis and the approach to its management takes into account the availability of resources.

“The council acknowledges the sensitivity of this matter and apologises if the level of service it is possible to provide, especially during periods of intense growth, doesn’t meet with everyone’s expectations.”

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