A CLYDEBANK man who regularly visits the spot where his wife’s ashes are buried at Dalnottar Cemetery says parts of the grounds have become a “weed-infested eyesore”.

Ian Falconer hit out at cemetery chiefs and says there are no signs of maintenance of the grounds when he goes to pay his respects.

Ian, 75, of Dunholme Park, Dalmuir, said: “My wife Shona’s ashes are buried about six or seven feet from what used to be an area of shrubs but in the spring of this year contractors arrived and ripped the whole lot out.

“It has just been left to go to wrack and ruin and is now infested with weeds. I have no idea why this was done and no one I have spoken to seems to know, but it has become a real eyesore.”

Ian said larger grass areas to the side of the main cemetery had become unkempt as a result of fewer grass cuts, and were creating a bad impression.

A nearby pond had also been filled with rubble from a demolished building and there are lots of molehills.

He added: “I know that councils are stressed for money, but some things have to be sacrosanct. They just can’t let it become an eyesore. It needs fully upgraded.

“People come from all over the world to show their respects to friends and relatives who have passed away – and this is what they find...”

Shona passed away aged 70 in 2014 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Ian recalled: “We had been on holiday in Cuba and a few days after we arrived home Shona went to the doctors complaining about a pain in the right side of her back.

“The doctor told her she would be notified of scans in the next few days. We thought that was very quick for scans to be arranged, but he said, ‘We have to move quickly on this’.”

“I helped care for her during the following months but she passed away in the June of the following year.”

News of Shona’s death saddened her family and members of Radnor Park Bowling Club where she had been president.

When her ashes were buried no headstone was erected but Ian, a retired engineer, took measurements so he would always know where the ashes lie.

A council spokesperson said: “

Old shrubs in this area were recently removed so the beds could be re-planted over winter, and the pond area will be landscaped too.