FAMILIES visiting West Kilbride cemetery to pay tribute to loved ones will soon see a new and improved site, thanks to a significant cash injection from North Ayrshire Council.

The Drummilling Road cemetery is to benefit from around £93,000 from the Council's capital funding budget following a campaign led by Dalry and West Kilbride councillor, Todd Ferguson.

Constituents first approached Councillor Ferguson about the poor condition of roads and pathways in and near to the cemetery in June 2018.

The information was relayed to the Streetscene team and the issues were rectified - but later in the summer, the condition of the roads and pathways appeared to further deteriorate.

In July 2019, Councillor Ferguson was approached by one resident who had been left distressed at the state of the cemetery following a visit to a loved one's grave.

Following an in-depth inspection of the site in September last year, Thomas Reaney of the Streetscene team at North Ayrshire Council let Councillor Ferguson know that £93,000 had been allocated to cemetery improvements through the Council's capital funding budget.

The cash will be used to improve paths, steps and roads within the cemetery.

Councillor Ferguson said: "It's terrible to hear about people being distressed after being up to visit graves. People who are paying their respects to loved ones want to know that their resting place is being looked after.

"This cemetery is at centre of the West Kilbride community and it's so important that we keep it maintained to a high standard.

"When the Council is reducing a lot of its spending, it's not always easy to access capital funding for West Kilbride.

"This is a huge bonus for us and we're thrilled to receive the funding - but it's an ongoing process and will take time."

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said: “Maintaining our cemeteries to a high standard is a priority for us, which is why we have a ten-year capital improvement programme in place to support the infrastructure in our cemeteries.”

Work on the cemetery is due to be completed in March 2020.