Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Mourners left upset by messy cemetery bins
It’s already hard enough celebrating Christmas... so to go to the cemetery and see it in that state is just really disheartening RICHARD SMOLICZ
GRIEVING relatives were left horrified after a cemetery was left in an ‘atrocious’ state with bins overflowing at Christmas.
Richard Smolicz was visiting the graves of his loved ones on Christmas Day when he was left horrified by the unsightly mess.
The bins at Whitworth Road cemetery, Swindon, Wiltshire, were the “worst they’ve ever been” over the festive period, a time when many families visited to pay respects to dead loved ones.
Mr Smolicz, from Swindon, said: “There are a lot of people who go to the cemetery at Christmas time to pay their respects to people that have passed away.
“The bins were in an atrocious state for any day of the week, but it was especially bad considering that it was Christmas Day and the council must have known that a lot of people would be visiting.”
According to Mr Smolicz, the state of the bins was the “worst he had ever seen”, and the sight of overflowing litter was distressing to many families who had gone to pay their respects.
He said: “It’s already hard enough celebrating Christmas and getting through that period when you’ve lost loved ones, so to go to the cemetery and see it in that state is just really disheartening.
“People are having a distressing enough time without seeing the place they’ve laid their loved ones to rest in such a state.”
Mr Smolicz is a regular visitor to Whitworth Road as it is the place where his father, grandfather, aunts, uncles and friends are all buried.
“All I wanted was to pay my respects to the family and friends I have lost on Christmas morning.
“It’s definitely an important place for me and my family, but it also is for so many other people which you could tell by how busy it was.
“The bins should have never been allowed to get in such a state.”
Swindon Borough Council has now apologised for the state that the bins at Whitworth Road Cemetery were left in on Christmas Day, and said the bins have now been emptied.
“While our waste crews did endeavour to empty these bins before Christmas, unfortunately, the busy schedule meant they were unable to,” said a spokesperson for the Council.