I WOULD like to refer to the letters in the Daily Echo stating that the Old Cemetery in Southampton should be allowed to stay as it is at present, namely a haven for wildlife etc.

Surely the nearby Common is a place for this! I strongly disagree with recent correspondents, as to me a cemetery is a place of respect and not as it is now with many of the graves completely covered by brambles, ivy and thistles some of which go up to 20 feet.

How good it has been recently to see so many people agree with me.

When relatives come from near and far afield to pay their respects to their loved ones they must feel great sadness on seeing this deplorable state of deterioration.

Whilst tending my dad’s grave recently I was approached by two young men from Bournemouth who had come in search of relatives and they were disgusted/distraught at the state of the cemetery.

To my generation a cemetery is a memorial to the dead and not a sad example of neglect. On visits to Hythe , it saddened me to see their cemetery in a state of neglect very similar to Southampton. However, I have since witnessed a group of volunteers who worked hard to get it back to a cared for place of respect.

Why does Southampton City Council have such pride in Holybrook Cemetery? However, they should hang their heads in shame at the state of the Old Cemetery.

I feel very strongly about this especially as my dad (Mr Leonard Robert Green) was Registrar of Deaths and Cremations for almost 55 years. If Dad saw the state of the cemetery as it is today he would be distraught at the lack of respect being shown.

MARGARET LOCKE, Hedge End .