CITY cemetery chiefs have been accused of neglecting the graves of Southampton's war heroes.

Grass has been allowed to grow above the headstones of fallen First and Second World War soldiers, buried at South Stoneham Cemetery.

Now a military veteran has labelled it an "appalling act of neglect".

But council chiefs say wet and warm weather are the blame for the recent growth spurt – which comes as the city prepares to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War.

Military veteran and ex-Tory councillor, Bob Painton, who served in the Royal Artillery in the 1970s, visits the grave each year to pay his respects.

He said: "The grass is almost as tall as me. It's inexcusable.

"These people served our country and we should give them the utmost respect.

"Yes these heroes have been laid to rest, but not laid to rest and forgotten about."

Mr Painton, who lost his Swaythling seat on Southampton City Council in May's election, said: "This year being the 100th year of remembrance of the First World War, this is an appalling act of neglect by the city council to our war heroes."

The city council run cemetery contains public graves, as well as war graves.

Fallen military personnel buried there include those from the Royal Air Force, the Royal Army Medical Corp and the county's own Hampshire Regiment – now the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.

During the First World War, 7,580 officers and men were killed from the regiment.

A further 2,094 officers and men were killed in the Second World War.

One group to raise concern over the state of the cemetery is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (GWGC) – the body responsible for the care of more than 170,000 war graves across 13,000 burial grounds in the UK.

The CWGC say the majority of burial grounds are owned by other organisations or councils, who it enters into maintenance agreements with.

A spokesperson said: "We have spoken to Southampton City Council to express our concern that the current state of the cemetery falls below that expectation.

"To be fair to the council, they are aware of the issue and we acknowledge that it has been a difficult maintenance season.

"The council have dispatched a team to the cemetery and taken on additional staff and equipment to tackle the issue.

"We will be sending our own regional manager to assess the situation and to ascertain if additional maintenance is needed."

The spokesperson added: "We are confident the standard of this site will be restored."

A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said the recent weather had caused a "high level of demand" on its resources.

The spokesperson added: "In view of the recent weather conditions, we have suspended all non-essential work, such as digging pre-purchased graves and additional temporary staff have been employed to help us deal with this flush of growth.

"The task of maintaining the cemeteries is very labour intensive and care is needed to ensure that headstones and kerb sets are not damaged by the machinery being used, so progress might still be slower than some cemetery users would expect."

This November will be the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, which bought to an end the fighting in the First World War.

Southampton will mark the event with a special event on Remembrance Day.

The Royal British Legion will present an evening of music, song, poetry and special memories to be performed by a 300-strong cast of choirs, military drums and accompanied by the professional Showcase Philharmagic Orchestra at the city’s Mayflower Theatre.

This year, the city will also have its first Armed Forces Day, set to take place on July 1.

Organisers have confirmed that an array of armoured vehicles will join the parade which is expected to see 10,000 people line the streets.