Andy Martin says the condition of Portobello Cemetery has deteriorated over the past few years with fewer and poorer quality grass cuttings

A grieving father has urged the Council to improve the "appalling" upkeep of a city cemetery, claiming overgrown grass is forcing bereaved families to bring their own gardening tools.

Andy Martin, 59 from Portobello, has said that the quality of groundskeeping in Portobello Cemetery has reduced over the past few years, leaving family plots swamped by long grass and overgrown weeds.

Andy and his family travel to the cemetery on a weekly basis to visit the graves of family members, including his son Christopher who died 26 years ago and his daughter Anna, who died six years later.

Visitors to Portobello Cemetery have been cutting back weeds and grass with their own tools after complaints about the lack of upkeep of the ground by the council. | Supplied

placeholder image — Visitors to Portobello Cemetery have been cutting back weeds and grass with their own tools after complaints about the lack of upkeep of the ground by the council. | Supplied

Andy’s father, father-in-law, and his brother-in-law have also been laid to rest in the cemetery.

He said: “It's been a gradual deterioration, I would say, over the last five years.

“The council has always been fairly prompt, but this year it just seems excessive in terms of excuses and also the workmanship, which is shoddy at best.”

When left unattended to, visitors are unable to sit on benches in Portobello Cemetery and reflect beside graves due to long grass and weeds. | Supplied

Andy explained that while a grass cutting took place in early May following a complaint to City of Edinburgh Council, the quality of the cut was “embarrassing”.

He said: “They use sit-on mowers and they can’t get everywhere.

“There's one gravestone my mother used to walk behind that she could hold on to because it's on a hill. Now, she can't get down there because the weeds and grass that the mower hasn’t been able to reach are so high.”

While grass has been cut at Portobello Cemetery after complaints, Andy says that the quality of the work is "appalling" with weeds and grass still growing in hard-to-reach places. | Supplied

What was once the family’s “happy place” to spend time with lost loved ones has become a job in itself, with the regular need for Andy to bring his own gardening tools to trim back the garden during what should be a time for reflection.

Andy added: “We would take flowers down and you could sit and reflect. Now you're taking garden tools down.

“We've been here 26 years, and this is the worst it's ever been.

“It used to be called our happy place to a certain extent. But it's no longer a happy place where we can go and sit and reflect and remember. We're going down there and worrying about what state it's going to be in.”

After complaining about the upkeep of Portobello Cemetery to Edinburgh Council, Andy was told that policy has been changed to a “less is more” approach to groundskeeping for outdoor facilities to support wildlife conservation and biodiversity management.

Andy said: “We were last down on Sunday there and spoke to three or four other people. We all had our own tools and we're all expressing the same concern.”

He added: “I kind of suspect this isn't just the case in Portobello, but Portobello is the only cemetery we visit.”

Margaret Graham, Culture and Communities Convener at City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Our teams work hard to maintain all 43 cemeteries across Edinburgh, and Portobello Cemetery is currently undergoing its first cut of the season.

“As is standard practice, the initial cut is a rough cut, with further maintenance taking place in the coming weeks. In some areas, longer grass is intentionally left around headstones to help prevent accidental damage during mowing.

“Maintenance schedules can sometimes change at short notice due to burial requirements. Funerals understandably cannot always be planned far in advance and must take priority but we do our best to balance these operational demands while ensuring all cemeteries remain safe and well maintained for visitors.”