TWO sisters are distraught after discovering their grandparents' grave hidden beneath a five-foot-high jungle of grass.
When Sylvia Pitts, 76, of Longmead Avenue, Great Baddow, identified the spot of the memorial at nearby St Mary's Church on Thursday, she used shears to hack away at the shrubbery.
Along with sister Sonia Kennaby, 64, she has condemned Chelmsford City Council for not maintaining the graves – after they first complained back in 2009.
"The grass is as tall as I am and I'm five foot four – it really is appalling," said Mrs Pitts.
"I feel like screaming, I really do, I couldn't find the grave at first, they're all lost. I had to cut the grass with my shears.
"A lot of people are buried in that area and they must have worked hard in their time and to think that's how they're now kept is awful, it's not funny at all; in fact it's very sad."
Mrs Pitts, who has lived in Great Baddow all her life, remembers her grandmother Florence May before she died aged 72 in 1957.
She was buried with husband Arthur Glover, who died in 1937.
Both were the parents of the sisters' mother May Rawlingson. When she died in 2008, Mrs Pitts began visiting her grandparents' grave every three weeks.
"I know somebody who is losing his eyesight and in 2009 he went up there to find the grave of his mother and father, and poor old bloke, he went to find it but couldn't and he just stood there and cried."
Her sister, Ms Kennaby, said: "It's disgusting really that people can't even find graves there – that it's so overgrown it's a mess. It really needs someone to sort it out because it's a fire hazard."
Chelmsford City Council say the grass has grown out of control due to the periods of wet and hot weather following one another in quick succession.
A spokesman said: "The churchyard receives basic maintenance every three weeks, which includes keeping walkways clear, but doesn't always include cutting the grass around every grave.
"With periods of wet weather followed by hot weather, as we have experienced this year, grass and flora grow very quickly.
"The churchyard will receive more intensive maintenance in the next one to two weeks, which will include cutting back hedges, cutting the grass and other jobs as needed. This more intensive maintenance takes place around three times per year, at times when it is least likely to disturb wildlife, such as nesting birds."
