COUNCIL bosses have finally made amends to a grieving family after workers dumped a mound of dirt on a loved one’s grave.

Christine Honour, Carol Penman and Leslie Garnham were reduced to tears at their annual visit to Millbrook Cemetery in Southampton to mark 28 years since brother John Garnham died aged 29. They were horrified to find his grave buried under a mound of earth with flowers thrown to the side.

The council apologised and promised to put things right but when the dirt was finally cleared the headstone was loose and concrete border was damaged. Now the grave has been tidied up properly and the council has waived £408 admin costs to upgrade the grave after the recent deaths of their mum Doreen and brother Colin.

Christine said: “If it was not for the Echo I would not have got anywhere.

“They said that they would put it right and now they have. It needn’t have happened but this is the least they could do. I think that they had to learn from their mistakes and move forward.

I’m just relieved it’s over and now we haven’t got to pay that money to them which we would have had to find to carry out our mum’s last wishes.”

Doreen, a retired bookkeeper, died in October aged 88 and Colin, 54, a car valeter, died of a heart attack in December. They were laid to rest in the same grave as the sisters’ father Bill, who died in 1991 aged 66.

Cabinet member for environment and transport at Southampton City Council, Councillor Jacqui Rayment, said: “I am pleased that we have been able to resolve this unfortunate situation to the family’s satisfaction.

“We always do our best to be sensitive to people’s needs and try to make amends if it is felt that we have fallen short of the expectations of those visiting our cemeteries.”