Cemetery owners have been accused of using gravestones to prop up a section of a broken wall while it is being repaired.

A member of the public contacted the Times after she noticed the headstones while walking past Kensal Green Cemetery in Harrow Road, Kensal Green, last week.

The 33-year-old woman, who asked not be named, said: “I’m not sure if it’s good idea to use someone’s graves to hold walls temporarily.

“There is no organisation or common sense

“I wonder if families of those people would appreciate this.”

Last year work started on the 176-year-old wall after it collapsed in 2005.

The work is being carried out in phases due to its long length.

Lee Snashfold, company director of the General Cemetery Company which owns the cemetery, denied the gravestones were being used this way but said he knew the work was ‘deeply upsetting’ for families.

He said: “The hoarding is propping up the wall; it is certainly not supported by gravestones.

“We have got to have scaffolding there to support the wall.

“If we took the scaffolding away there is a danger the wall might fall on them. In an ideal world, if there were no graves, the wall would be fixed by now.

“We know it is deeply upsetting for families.”

Adding that the scaffolding can be “rearranged” if people need to access a certain grave, he said: “If they let us know they are coming we will clear the area but that is difficult in certain places.

“It’s been a long, drawn out and expensive process but we will happily work with any families who need to gain access to their grave to see how we can help them.”

Do you have loved one buried in the cemetery and face difficulty accessing their grave?

Call the newsdesk on 020 7433 6244 or email stephanie.harrison@archant.co.uk.