A CRUMBLING cemetery wall is posing a lot of heartache for a Lochgelly family.

Doreen Miller has tended to her dad’s grave for 17 years but over the past few months she has seen the wall behind Thomas Miller’s headstone deteriorate to such an extent it is dropping bits of brick and harling onto the stone and causing scratching and a pile of debris landing among the flowers and ornaments she has placed beside it.

Fife Council have said they would be sorting out the wall but months on the it is still deteriorating.

Doreen, from Auchterderran Road, said this week, “The wall has simply got steadily worse over the past 12 months and I spoke to the cemeteries department at the beginning of the year who said they would be looking at the problem.

“But now I have seen bits continue to drop down from the wall and strike the headstone causing scratches to the surface of it.

“It is really heartbreaking for me and I cannot let my elderly mother go down and see it. Looking at the wall, unless it is properly upgraded I fear that it will eventually disintegrate for the harling is peeling away and leaving the brickwork badly exposed.

“My dad’s is not the only headstone which is being affected by this, there are several that are suffering in the same way and more will be affected unless something is done to upgrade the wall.” Liz Murphy, Service Manager for Bereavement Services (Burials & Cremations), said that work was going to start on repairing the wall.

She commented, “We have commissioned remedial works to repair the wall and make it safe.

“We expect these works to start by the end of this week. The repairs should take about two days to complete, weather permitting.”