A BEREAVED Worcester dad whose son died at the age of 39 has hit out at the city's cemetery - calling it "a tip".

Richard Grosvenor-Davies goes to Astwood Cemetery to tend to his son Jason's grave after he passed away three years ago due to an asthma attack.

But the 62-year-old, of Foxwell Street, off London Road, has accused Worcester City Council of not looking after the site - saying it's "disrespectful" to the people buried there.

As well as a lack of maintenance at the Tintern Avenue facility he says a natural soakaway has been filled with unwanted waste like soil, leaves, branches and other mess, creating a ghastly and untidy impression for visitors.

He said: "At the new part of the cemetery there's a soakaway which is 300 to 400 metres long, but it's become a tip.

"All the council are doing is creating a fly-tip at that cemetery, you've got to see it to believe how bad it is.

"They used to do maintenance work and put all the mess into a skip and take it away, but these last few months they've just chucked it in there.

"There's trees all over the place, leaves, soil, dirt, mud, even fruit, I saw pears in there.

"It's disrespectful, it's not supposed to be a fly-tip. They've got to sort it out."

Mr Grosvenor-Davies, who runs his own rubbish removals business, also said he felt the council was looking after one half of the site while neglecting the other.

"One side is nice and clean but the other section, forget it, it's just neglected," he said.

"For the first 18 months since I lost Jason I went there every day, I'm up there now around four times a week.

"It's not good enough."

In 2013 the city council came under criticism from other cemetery visitors, who said its appearance had started to worsen.

Bosses then implemented a new, beefed-up maintenance plan in response to the concerns.

Today, a spokesman said: "We are sorry to have received this feedback regarding the grounds condition at Worcester Cemetery.

We have been conducting clearance work over the winter months, removing scrub overgrowth and dead tree branches.

"We are also preparing to plant some new wildflower areas, this work is now coming to an end and will be completed by the end of next week.

"The grass is longer than normal for this time of year, unfortunately this is down to the mild wet weather conditions and it will be cut again in the very near future."

Last year the council approved a £300,000 revamp of the attached crematorium to bring it into the 21st century.

The work included a redesigned chapel, new reception, waiting room and a cosmetic spruce up of the building and entrance.