A GRASS fire which swept through a Southampton cemetery damaged the graves of two crewman who perished on the Titanic.

The blaze at Southampton Old Cemetery, on the Common, also affected the area around a plot soon to be designated as a Commonwealth War Grave.

Saturday’s fire – which took hold at the same time as thousands of people were enjoying the thrills of the inflatable Gung Ho! obstacle course – is believed to have been started by the sun’s rays shining on a piece of glass.

Firecrews from Eastleigh and St Mary’s tackled the fire.

The Secretary of the Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery (FSOC) told the Echo that the area scorched by the fire was roughly equal to that of four tennis courts.

The fire, which sent up a plume of black smoke, which could be seen rising above the trees from some distance, was centred on the area near the duck pond and the “small gate” entrance to the Common.

One of the Titanic memorials was blackened and the other, which had a wooden plaque, was damaged.

The markers belong to the graves of Arthur J Rous, an engineer aboard the Titanic, and Thomas Charles Alfred Preston, a coal trimmer.

They are among 60 Titanic graves scattered over the site, which is the last resting place for more than 100,000.

The war grave belonged to Kate Trodd who served in the First World War in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), which provided volunteer civilian nurses.

A woman who regularly walks her dog through the cemetery and who witnessed Saturday’s blaze said the fire was made worse because the grass was so long.

She told the Echo: “The cemetery is incredibly overgrown – it hasn’t been strimmed for ages. It doesn’t take much for a fire start.”

Mrs Ferguson of the FSOC agreed the graveyard had become overgrown but its upkeep was principally the responsibility of the city council.

She said the FSOC had approached the council several times about getting the grass cut.

“It doesn’t seem to be their top priority,” she said.

“We volunteers try to do as much as we can but we are only volunteers and it’s a 27-acre site.”

The Echo asked Southampton City for a comment about the upkeep of the cemetery but had received no reply at going to press.