PRESSURE is growing on Swindon Borough Council to rethink rules banning the placing of toys and flowers on graves at Whitworth Road Cemetery and limiting the size of plots.

Julie Porter, 35, whose stillborn daughter Kyra Jane Porter is buried in an area of the graveyard reserved for babies, said: "The council has set aside a memorial area where they say you can leave tributes, but it just looks like a mess.

"It used to look so much better before when people were allowed to leave tributes beside each grave.

"When the gardeners mow the area they move the toys and just seem to place them in a pile.

"No grieving parent would do that. I can't see what the problem is. It is just a lot of red tape. I know the gardeners have a large job to do, but how difficult can it be to just remove a few toys and then put them back afterwards. I wish they would change their mind."

On Wednesday, bereaved mother Helen Smith, 33, whose daughter Abby is buried in Whitworth Road Cemetery, revealed how she was upset to find out that her daughter's grave would have to be reduced from its current four-feet to two feet. And she accused the council of insensitivity towards grieving parents.

Officials claim it would cost an extra £25,000 to cut grass if larger grave borders were allowed and gardeners had to stop to move memorial tokens.

Council press officer Adrian Ruck explained: "The extra costs would be incurred because we would need to cut the grass in a different way, using a strimmer team which would be more time-consuming and costly.

"A large factor in the decision was to make the cemetery more aesthetically pleasing."

And councillor Maureen Dilley, who represents the area, said: "While children's toys and memorabillia are not permitted on individual graves, the cemetery has a dedicated children's memorial where such items can be placed.

"When purchasing a grave space, a legally binding agreement is signed by the owner who agrees to keep to the regulations.

"These regulations were reviewed recently by the council's Transport, Environment and Neighbourhood Services Commission who, having given careful consideration to the views of families who were unhappy about the restrictions, agreed to re-endorse them to improve and maintain the standards of the grounds and generally to make the cemetery more aesthetically pleasing.

"Whitworth Cemetery has every sympathy for the family and will do its best to be supportive."