
A grieving woman has slammed the council over “disrespectful” practices at a city cemetery.
Deb Brown, from the West End, has been left heartbroken after council workers left mounds of dirt blocking the headstone of her late father at Birkhill Cemetery.
She said: “I went to check the plot to make sure everything was OK and I was shocked at what I saw.
“I am glad I had the chance to see it before my daughter did because she would have been very distressed.”
Special items that had been left by the family at the plot had also been moved as the digging took place, resulting in some of them being damaged.
Deb added: “We had lights and a Saltire flag at the headstone and they just moved them without consulting us.
“We saw that one of the lights was even left broken as well.”
Deb is angered by the move and said she regards it as an act of “vandalism”.
She is now seeking answers over why there are not better ways to dispose of the piles of mud without causing distress to families at their lowest ebb.
She said: “If this had been done by kids who had been drinking and causing trouble, they would be arrested.
“But because it is the council who is behind it, it seems to be okay.
“I know people who live in Arbroath and they said Angus Council have buckets to put the mud into.
“I heard it might be something to do with money but if Dundee City Council can spend millions on the V&A, they can ensure that grieving families are respected.”
The situation has left Deb and her family devastated and she admits it has compounded the grief of losing their loved one.
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She said: “My father died six months ago and I am heartbroken.
“We thought it would be nice to have somewhere we could visit him but this has just been intolerable.
“When you lose a parent a part of you just dies too. This situation has put us back to square one.
“Something needs to be done about this.
“From what I have heard from other people, this has been going on for years.
“It’s just so disrespectful.”
A Dundee City Council spokeswoman said: “Work was carried out work on an adjacent plot to this and this involved disruption to nearby lairs.
“We would like to apologise for any disruption and upset caused.”