A shocked family have hit out at the council after grave diggers who left an unsightly mound of earth on the grave where a much missed mother has been buried.

Andrew Purdon, of Largs, said the workmen were ‘disrespectful and lazy’ after piling up earth next to the gravestone at Brisbane Glen cemetery.

He said it prevented family members from paying respect and leaving flowers at the graveside.

Andrew’s mum, Kasha, who had been a practice nurse at Largs surgery, passed away on 29 March 2013.

Andrew, 44, a food and beverage manager at Portavadie Marina hotel and restaurant, said: “My father Drew, wife Liz and myself went up to the cemetery on Monday 11 January - it was the first time we had the opportunity to go to the cemetery together in the new year and put some flowers down, But when we got there, we saw this large mound of earth all over my mother’s grave - it was about 6-10 inches from the headstone. As we got out of the car, we could see the earth, and it was like ‘what is going on here?’ and we went for a closer look.

“The gravediggers had obviously dug another grave further down, when interring somebody, but it meant we couldn’t get to my mother’s grave without clambering over soil and earth. I was raging and felt it was very disrespectful of my mother’s memory. We could not go and stand we normally would have, There was another area nearby where they could have moved the soil, next to a park bench - that is what peeved me off the most. The park bench to where the new grave is was literally not even ten feet - that is what sent me flying off the handle.

“My father was upset - and the fact of the matter is that it is going to take months for the grass to recover. I appreciate that new graves have to go in, but it is just laziness and there was no thought in the process whatsoever from my own point of view.” It is not the first time that it has happened either in a North Ayrshire cemetery, after the parents of Ardrossan teenager Ross Munn, who tragically drowned in Mill Glen Reservoir, slammed council gravediggers – calling them ‘disrespectful’ for dumping soil on top of graves in April 2014.

Andrew added: “I am staggered to learn that this has happened before. You would think that the council would have more sense. I think it is appalling.” A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said: “We understand that this is a sensitive issue for families. Our staff carry out work in as respectful a manner as possible. However, there are occasions where there is no alternative but to temporarily store soil on an adjacent plot.

“Whenever this is the case, we ensure that the grass is cleared and returned to the same condition as it was prior to the work starting as quickly as possible.”