Mother 'heartbroken' as baby's grave could be destroyed

Yvonne Elston, 63, from West End, has been visiting her son Martyn's grave for almost 40 years at St Peter's Church in Bishop's Waltham.

But three years ago, cracks began to form in the wall above it - and since then, she has been trying to get it fixed but to no avail, leaving her feeling 'helpless' and 'heartbroken'.

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Yvonne said: “It's my place for my son and I want it to always be there.

“It was a long time ago now but it's still my baby there – it's my place for him and don’t want that to disappear underneath a crumbling wall.

“Someone is responsible for the upkeep of the church and it breaks my heart to think that my son and other graves will fall victim to a poorly maintained structure.”

In tragic circumstances, Yvonne lost her son, Martyn Parry, to cot death syndrome when she was out shopping with him in 1986.

He was three and a half weeks old.

The 63-year-old grew up near Bishop's Waltham and regularly attended St Peter's Church as a child - and decided to scatter his ashes there.

Ever since then, Yvonne, who has two other children, has returned to spend time with Martyn, laying fresh flowers on his grave.

She said: "I visit him on his birthday, at Christmas, Easter and as regularly as I can throughout the year."

Martyn Parry died when he was just three and a half weeks old (Image: Submitted)So when the cracks began to appear, she knew she needed to take action. “For the past three years now, I have been attempting to contact local councillors to get something done but have never had a response."

The cracks have now resulted in a large section of the wall leaning over a number of head stones - and Yvonne fears it is only a matter of time before it fully collapses.

She said: “It feels like my son is being forgotten – but I don’t want to let that happen.”

The distressed mother is desperately appealing for something to be done to save her baby’s final resting place.

Since being approached by the Echo about Yvonne's situation, Winchester City Councillor Michael Kurn said he was working to find who is responsible for maintaining the church grounds.

Reacting to this, Yvonne said: "I’m so pleased that someone is finally looking into the issue before my boy’s resting place is destroyed.

There are dozens of headstones there that will be affected if that wall gives way.

"I just hope that something gets done before it is too late."

She added: "It really bothers me that no one seemed to care that these resting places would be damaged."

Bishop's Waltham Parish Council was approached by the Echo but declined to comment.