WELLINGTON residents say the state of the only town cemetery is “shocking” and are taking it upon themselves to clear the graves of their family members.

Town resident, Mike Green, flagged with the community that the Wellington Cemetery site, located in Rockwell Green, was disappointedly overgrown. He said he now plans to buy a strimmer to tend to his family’s grave.

He said: “It’s bad how it’s been left.

“It used to be kept so tidy there, but I guess cutbacks, and the council would rather spend/waste our money on other things.”

Wellington Cemetery, located in Rockwell Green, is the only town cemetery still used, as well as being a war grave for roughly 50 former servicemen.

Another town resident, Sue Buttle regularly visits the site to visit family members, including her son. She says her husband regularly tends to the area around those graves.

She said: “We’ve got a lot of our family members down there, including one of our children. We’re in our eighties and we visit all the time.

“It just looks terrible. Nothing has been done about it and it’s absolutely shocking.

“It’s fine if it’s ‘No Mow May’ but it’s all the time. It’s not a one off, it’s constant.

“It’s just very upsetting – you go to other places like the Taunton crematorium and they’re immaculate.”

A Somerset Council spokesperson said: “Our team maintains five sites in total, including Rockwell Green Cemetery and Taunton Crematorium and works hard to deliver a quality service.

“There are currently some temporary staffing pressures and we are recruiting at the moment. Rockwell Green was cut on April 29, and although we have not been able to prioritise a full strimming of the site just yet following this, we are hopeful normal service can provided very soon, once the team is back up to full strength.”