Grieving relatives have been left in tears over the ‘awful’ state of a cemetery which has been left unkept by the council for months.

Families have complained that Hills Cemetery in Horsham, West Sussex, has been left badly overgrown making it difficult for people to attend the grave stones of their loved ones.

In order to pay their respects, some people had resorted to cutting the long grass and weeds with scissors to make sure the graves were visible and to ensure the footpaths were clear for access to the burial plots.

Horsham District Council was forced to apologise this week after a number of people took to social media to express their disgust at the state of the site.

Jasmine Gibson’s grandparents Maria and Franciszer Imianowski have been buried together at the cemetery for more than 20 years. The 28-year-old claims the ‘horrendous’ overgrown pathways are now making it impossible for her wheelchair-bound mother to visit their graves.

Families have complained that Hills Cemetery in Horsham, West Sussex, has been left badly overgrown making it difficult for people to attend the grave stones of their loved ones

In order to pay their respects, some people had resorted to cutting the long grass and weeds with scissors to make sure the graves were visible and to ensure the footpaths were clear for access to the burial plots

Horsham District Council was forced to apologise this week after a number of people took to social media to express their disgust at the state of the site

Jasmine Gibson’s grandparents gravestones in 2021 when the maintenance was ‘half ok’ : The 28-year-old claims the ‘horrendous’ overgrown pathways are now making it impossible for her wheelchair-bound mother to visit and pay her respects 

Jasmine Gibson’s grandparents Maria and Franciszer Imianowski have been buried together at the cemetery for more than 20 years

She told MailOnline: ‘My mother and auntie have been trying to keep the pathway clear to get to and from the grave but it’s just got ridiculous. She’s touching 60 and it’s just not doable for her.

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‘My mum can’t get to the graves because she is in a wheelchair. She was in tears recently because there was a little old man up there who came from abroad, and he had got some scissors out of his car and he was cutting around the grave with them on his hands and knees.’

Ms Gibson says her family have repeatedly asked for the council to resolve the issue, but were repeatedly given a ‘fob off answer’.

She added: ‘They [the council] just don’t bother to do anything. They just let the old graves rot away and allow weeds and bushes to grow over the top of them.’

‘Just because they’re dead. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be looked after. It’s not like they got buried there for free. You pay to get buried there. So you pay for some kind of upkeep and maintenance on them. They still deserve respect.’

Ms Gibson voiced her frustrations on Facebook and her post garnered a large number of responses from people echoing similar views.

One resident wrote: ‘My partner and his brother visited their mum there and my brother in law had to cut the grass around it with scissors too.’

Another added: ‘We had this up about the state of it last year. Awful there now so sad can’t even push mum in wheel chair to get to her sister because the grass around the graves are long. This does really upset my 88yrs old mum coz she can’t get up to it. Awful just awful.’

A third commented: ‘It was like it last year too and the past couple of years. Before that they used to look after it really well all year but not now it’s so sad and very upsetting I can’t bear going up there to see my mum and dad it’s disgusting of Horsham Council a proper insult to our loved ones.’

Hills Cemetery opened in July 1900 and is said to have more than 16,000 burial plots which include 70 service personnel spanning both world wars.

Ms Gibson says her family have repeatedly asked for the council to resolve the issue, but were repeatedly given a ‘fob off answer’ 

Ms Gibson as a child with her grandfather Franciszer 

Ms Gibson voiced her frustrations on Facebook and her post garnered a large number of responses from people echoing similar views.

Horsham District Council told MailOnline that Hills Cemetery was not included in it’s ‘no mow’ strategy and said it was now doing ‘everything we can to manage the sites to the best of our standards’

The state of the cemetery has upset residents in the area for a number of years, with similar complaints made on Facebook about the overgrown grass in 2022

Hills Cemetery opened in July 1900 and is said to have more than 16,000 burial plots which include 70 service personnel spanning both world wars

The state of the cemetery has upset residents in the area for a number of years, as Teresa Kisza Sturt made similar complaints on Facebook about the overgrown grass in 2022.

She told SussexWorld at the time: ‘You want to be able to touch, kiss and put some flowers by the gravestone and be close to that person you have lost. And currently there is no way you can do that if you are with someone in a wheelchair. I think that’s wrong.’

Many online users believed the cemetery was a part of the council’s ‘no mow’ strategy’ – which sees the grass in selected parks and open spaces left uncut to help nature flourish and improve biodiversity.

One user commented: ‘Its always untidy this time of year. Ridiculous ‘No mow’ thats left for wildlife. Always take my mower, strimmer, shears up there and keep my family grave neat. Its such a shame when it upsets people.’

But Horsham District Council told MailOnline that Hills Cemetery was not included in it’s ‘no mow’ strategy and said it was now doing ‘everything we can to manage the sites to the best of our standards’.

A council spokesperson said: ‘We fully appreciate that Hills Cemetery is a special and sensitive place for respectful reflection and are very sorry that some individuals feel upset about certain areas of the site.

‘The cemetery is not included as part of our ‘no mow’ strategy.

‘We do everything we can to manage the site to the best standards carrying out a regular fortnightly cutting regime which includes trimming around specific gravestones.

‘Some of the photos you have show the oldest part of the cemetery, where most of the graves date back to between 1900-1920. This has historically been left as wildflower meadow for many years as very few graves are visited in this specific area.

‘We will continue to monitor the situation.’