A council investigation into complaints that its workers left Sanquhar Cemetery in Dumfries and Galloway “like a bombsite” has led to an apology.
The authority’s community asset manager Nicola Simpson accepts there was a communications failure over a scheme to make headstones safe.
Sanquhar residents Ian Turnbull and Betty Burns complained to the council after accusing its staff of vandalising the graveyard.
They were incensed by the aftermath of the works which saw headstones being removed from plinths and half buried in the ground. Ms Simpson investigated their complaints and concluded that the “council is not at fault” for the actions it took in trying to make memorials safe.
But she conceded that more could have been done to let relatives know in advance that the work would be carried out.
Ms Simpson said: “I feel that our signage at the cemetery was not detailed enough and should have gone further in describing the project which was being undertaken and I apologise for any confusion this caused.
“Staff also accept they could have done more to promote the project and perhaps should have contacted community councils and other community groups to raise awareness.
“There was more which could have been done locally to ensure that the people of Sanquhar were aware of the proposed works and as we move forward with this project we will ensure community councils and other groups will be informed in advance and make sure this lack of communication does not happen again”.
The row erupted after council workers took headstones deemed unsafe off their plinths.
They were then “socketed” into the ground and in some cases part of the inscriptions were buried.
According to Ms Simpson it was the most efficient, cost effective and safest method of ensuring that Sanquhar Cemetery was “a safe place for people to visit”.
The inquiry findings have left Mr Turnbull and Mrs Burns, who had previously accused the authority of leaving the cemetery like a bombsite, “disgusted”.
Mr Turnbull, 69, a retired undertaker, was visiting his grandparents grave when he noticed the base of the headstone had been removed from its plinth and replaced, with an inscription at the bottom now buried.
He said: “I’m disgusted that the council think it was acceptable to do this.”
Mrs Burns was left in tears when she visited her grandparents grave to find the stone had been taken off its plinth and sunk into the ground.
She also hit out at workers for “vandalising” the memorial to former Sanquhar minister of 45 years, James Richmond Wood.
She said: “Our complaints haven’t achieved a great deal and the council is not going to change their minds.
“They have no shame and have taken no responsibility for the distress they’ve caused.”
Kirkcudbright stonemason Douglas Swan repaired Mr Wood’s memorial and Ian Turnbull’s family headstone free of charge.
He previously said all of the memorials could have been fixed without digging them into the ground and that obscuring the lettering is a “no-no and should only be done as an absolute last resort”.
He said he is also “disgusted” with the council response to the complaints about the work on the headstones.
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