THE curator of a museum dedicated to Hampshire’s own military regiment has called for better maintenance of Southampton’s war graves.

It comes after yesterday’s Echo report on unmown grass which had grown so high at Southampton’s South Stoneham Cemetery that headstones of First and Second World War soldiers were almost hidden from view.

READ: Veteran slams council over war grave 'neglect'

Ex-serviceman Bob Painton accused the city council of an “appalling act of neglect”.

Now the curator of the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum, in Winchester, has called for better maintenance.

Lieutenant Colonel Colin Bulleid, who served in the Royal Hampshire Regiment for 33 years, said: “We, like everybody, would like to see nice and neat graveyards and graves.

“Like everyone, we want to see them kept in good order.

“I don’t know who is responsible for them, but we are always keen that soldiers who have died are looked after in perpetuity.”

The cemetery is home to the graves of serviceman from the RAF, the Royal Army Medical Corp and Hampshire Regiment – now the Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment.

Mr Painton, a former Tory city councillor 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.

“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 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 – also raised concerns.

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.”

A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: “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.”