A WIDOW was devastated by the overgrown state of her husband's grave when she took her two grandchildren to visit it for the first time.

Mrs Doreen Shaw says she was shocked and disgusted by the height of the grass at the cemetery in the Vicarage Road Cemetery in West Watford, after visiting it on Saturday, June 1.

The 58-year-old from Kelmscott Close had taken her grandchildren aged seven and nine to see her husband Eric's grave.

She said: "I was disgusted and appalled. The grass was so high that when I turned to go and looked back I couldn't even see the headstone.

"My grandchildren had never been there before the grass was nearly as tall as them and all around was overgrown."

This was a second blow for the grandmother as the grave was one of those desecrated when the cemetery was vandalised about eight years ago.

Mr Shaw's headstone was pushed over by vandals and Mrs Shaw, who runs her own sandwich business, had to fight to get it put it back in place.

"It is disrespectful to people like me and to the people that are buried there."

A spokesman for Watford Council, which is responsible for the upkeep of the cemetery, said: "We appreciate that people want to see graves in a well-kept and tidy cemetery.

"When this resident spoke to a council officer she was reassured that we do have someone on site who is continually cutting the grass as part of his overall duties."

June 17, 2002 16:30