Ledbury Town Council has sent a letter of concern to a gravedigger, after a complaint from a member of the public.

Clare Turner discovered a mound of soil covering the grave of her mother, Catherine Rothery, when she visited it last week.

The soil came from the digging of a neighbouring grave.

Town clerk June McQuaid has suggested that all parties concerned, including the gravedigger, local undertakers and representatives from the town council, should get together for a meeting to discuss grave-digging procedures.

Speaking this week, Leominster-based contractor, Chris Watkins, a gravedigger with 20 years experience, said: "Putting soil on the grave next to the one we are re-opening has been the practice used by gravediggers for hundreds of years."

He added: "Where did Mrs Turner think the soil went, when her mother's grave was dug?"

Mrs McQuaid said she understood the previous gravedigger used a wheelbarrow, provided by the town council, to carry earth away.