THIS is the scene that has greeted Swindon people paying their respects to loved ones at Swindon's Kingsdown Crematorium.

Just metres from a wall of names to the rear of the complex, a shallow pit lies in foliage, filled with ash and strewn with replacement body joints, nails and even steel toe caps from shoes.

A rusting plate has been placed over the trench, and orange tape which may have been used to fence it off lies crumpled on the ground.

The pit, which contains items removed from the incinerator following the cremation process, was found as a Swindon man visited the crematorium to pay respects to his dead uncle.

The man, who does not wish to be named, said his aunt noticed something orange in the trees and he went to investigate. "I knew immediately what it was," he said. "I saw a ball socket and I was horrified it was horrible.

"They should dispose of it carefully and obviously they're not. It is not very nice, the thought that these bits and pieces used to be part of someone's loved one. It should be disposed of a lot more carefully."

The pit is about three feet deep by three feet wide and five feet long. It is 15 metres from a wall of names behind the crematorium regularly visited by families.

Mark Hillier, director of Old Town-based Hillier Funeral Service, said such remnants should be disposed of more considerately.

"Things like artificial hips don't cremate," he said. "An electro magnet is used to take them out and then burying them is what most crematoriums would do."

Swindon Borough Council spokesman Hellen Barnes said: "Metal residues and implants have to be disposed of and these are disposed of as sensitively as possible in a remote area away from the public space.

"This pit is not visible from the wall of names or any other part of the cemetery. The pit where the items are buried has a cover that is vacuum placed but this cover is removed on Mondays when items need to be disposed of. Any dust that was seen in the pit would have been brick dust removed from the furnaces when cleaned."

Geoff Lewis, Swindon Services assistant chief officer, said: "We dispose of residue after the cremation process such as metal joints and artificial limbs which don't break down in the process and are buried sympathetically. "This process has to be carried out by law.

"We will, though, endeavour to conceal the area in a more appropriate way. We have to ask people, if they do have a problem, to speak to a member of our staff who will do their best to explain what cremation is all about. We were following the law and we have nothing to hide we feel very, very strongly about this. The people who found this shouldn't have been doing what they were doing."