Rutland graves decimated by “overenthusiastic” use of weed killer
Bereaved families are devastated to find their loved ones’ graves have been decimated by weed killer.
Volunteers who maintain the grounds of St Andrew’s Church in Glaston have mistakenly killed off the grass and flowers covering dozens of graves.
Maggie Fenner was horrified to discover what had happened during a weekly visit to her husband’s grave.
She has been tending to the plot since Nick died in October 2022 and had taken her time to make sure it was looking exactly as she wanted. She had recently planted primroses ready to bloom in the summer.
Maggie, from Uppingham, said: "It looks absolutely terrible now - it's like the churchyard has been vandalised. There isn't a blade of green grass on the graves and the whole churchyard looks like a prairie.
“I just couldn’t work out what had happened when I first saw it. My understanding is that they were told to do the perimeter but not touch the graves.
“I’ve spoken to other people with family buried there and they are devasated. It’s so upsetting.”
The damaged graves are those located alongside Church Lane. The older graves on the other side of the church towards Wing Road have not been affected.
The Rev Canon Jane Baxter, who serves churches in the Lyddington Benefice, said she was aware that someone had been ‘overenthusiastic’ with weed killer while working in the church grounds.
She said: “The churchyard is maintained by volunteers who do their best to keep it neat and tidy. If anyone is upset by the work, we would ask them to contact us and we will try to resolve it.”
Maggie added: “I don’t know what can be done. People are devastated and these mistakes just shouldn’t have happened.”
