Sefton Council’s Cemeteries and Crematoria teams are working extremely hard to ensure memorial spaces remain welcoming and respectful to all.

The Local Authority’s five cemeteries and crematoria provide a poignant and reflective space for families all year round.

However unavoidable issues with machinery and reduced resources mean sometimes these spaces do not look their best.

Cutting the 150 acres of grass at the five sites is a four-weekly process. This means that sometimes the grounds can start to show signs of being overgrown before teams arrive back on site.

Sefton Council fully understands this may cause undue upset to those visiting their loved ones and officers are working hard to address these issues.

The team’s challenging schedule is also being restricted by the increasing number of unauthorised memorials that have been left by the public. 

Officers have to stop to remove any that pose a risk and work around others which results in the four-weekly programme taking longer.  

A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “We know and fully sympathise with those visiting our sacred sites who may be upset or left despondent on the occasions where the quality of the grounds falls below our standards.

“We have a set cutting schedule that pushes the very limits of our teams because we wholly appreciate the sensitivities of our memorial spaces and the desire for them to be beautiful and serene places for people to pay tribute to their loved ones.”

Anyone who wishes to raise an issue regarding grounds maintenance should first visit https://www.sefton.gov.uk/your-council/consultations-complaints-feedback