A WIDOW has spoken of her distress at the overgrown state of the cemetery where her husband is buried - after she first highlighted the problem this time last year.

Brenda Holden, 73, says the unkempt condition of parts of Bear Road cemetery, Brighton, makes her too upset to visit her late husband's grave.

She has written to the cemetery office, her MP, and even the Queen to try and highlight the problem, which she and others first complained of in The Argus last year.

At the time Brighton and Hove City Council said it could not afford to mow everywhere and prioritised areas it thought were "most visited".

The council said last week (Friday June 17) a lack of money was still holding back mowing work this year, but it is spending an extra £100,000 on cemetery maintenance.

Mrs Holden, of Peacehaven, told The Argus: "The situation is the same. The grass is the same, the cemetery looks the same and it is just appalling.

"It jut breaks your heart when you go and see it. I just got to the end of the row and had to come away in distress.

"I have said, don't talk to me about money constraints; we are better off than we have ever been in history.

"When I started going to that cemetery in the 1940s and early 1950s no-one had anything but that cemetery was still maintained - it was beautiful."

Last year several residents contacted The Argus to complain after finding Hove Cemetery in Old Shoreham Road and City Cemetery in Bear Road, swamped by grass.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chair of the environment, transport and sustainability committee, said this week: "As council budgets reduce further we have to alter the way we manage our parks, open spaces and cemeteries. We are aware that cemetery maintenance in particular is suffering from these changes and have identified an additional £100,000 for their care.

"We have acted quickly to start making use of the extra money with increased staffing this week to focus on grass-cutting."

The council is asking people who want to access specific graves across its nine cemeteries to get in touch and it will arrange for a path to be cut as close as possible.