DEVASTATED residents have told of their fury after witnessing a “construction site” at a Hatfield cemetery.

Graves at Welwyn Hatfield Lawn Cemetery in South Way have been covered in turf, clay and barriers while Welwyn Hatfield Council reroutes a water pipe.

The mess has meant some grieving residents have had to climb over huge two-and-a-half feet deep holes and mounds of turf and clay to tend to their loved one’s graves.

Hatfield resident Kevin Alderman told the Welwyn Hatfield Times he first saw the appalling disorder when he visited his parents’ graves on Monday.

The 53-year-old said: “It’s a mess, dangerous and totally disrespectful.

“There is no consideration for people who go up to visit graves or the people who are buried there.”

Mr Alderman, of Bramble Road, added: “People are devastated.

“My wife and daughter were in tears. They originally thought the graves had been dug up.

“It is that bad.”

Another Hatfield resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “It looks like a construction site.

“It’s very disturbing.”

Christine Tibbert, of Salisbury Road, WGC, visits the cemetery every day to tend to her late father’s grave.

The 66-year-old said: “The council don’t seem to give a damn about the pain they are causing to people who are trying to get to their close one’s graves.

“It is dangerous and a health and safety risk.

“As health and safety is a big thing these days why do the council leave it like that for people to climb over barriers?

“It’s disgusting.”

A spokeswoman for Welwyn Hatfield Council, which owns the cemetery, did not apologise for the mess.

She said: “The work has not damaged any grave plots or stones, but has taken place close to eight graves.

“Turf has been removed or moved, and yes the area affected by the work is not looking its best at present.”