A widower was left “horrified” after council workers dumped a 3ft mound of earth on top of his family grave.
Stephen Booth was visiting the plot at Brighouse Cemetery where his parents, wife Deborah and baby daughter Alice Marie are buried on Tuesday last week.
He was shocked to find the grave covered in soil and daffodils uprooted.
He believes council workers digging a new grave at the side had caused the mess. Two other graves, including that of a six-year-old girl, were also affected.
Stephen, 60, said he contacted Calderdale Council, and while some of the earth was shifted on Friday, half of it was still left.
He said: “We had to wait for the funeral of the person whose grave it was before the earth could be shifted, but even then only half of it was moved.
“It was left there for eight days before someone came along and got rid of it.
“I chose the plot because I live across the road and can see it from my bedroom window. For the past week I have had to look out and see that.”
Buried in the grave are Stephen’s 27-day-old daughter Alice Marie, who died in 1994 following birth complications, and wife Deborah who died from cancer aged 49 eight years ago.
Stephen’s mother Barbara, 79, and father Donald, 88, are also buried there after they died in 2002 and 2015 respectively.
Payroll manager Stephen added: “My father’s headstone had recently been done in December to mark what would have been his 90th birthday.
“I was horrified to see it, and very distressed.
“I understand that they have got to dig other graves but the way it had been done was unacceptable.”
A spokesman for Calderdale Council said: “We would like to thank Mr Booth for alerting us to this situation, and once we were made aware of the problem we contacted him immediately and apologised for any distress that this has caused.
“Unfortunately, when preparing for burials it is necessary from time to time for neighbouring graves to be affected by the resulting debris.
“We’re sorry for the damage caused to the plants, and this is something we will also discuss with Mr Booth and we’re happy to meet him on site to arrange for new bulbs to be planted.
“We have asked Mr Booth to contact staff in bereavement services at any time if the site isn’t cleaned to his satisfaction and will do all we can to rectify the situation.”
