A Bishop’s Waltham church has pledged "not to allow" a desperate mother’s baby's grave to be destroyed by a collapsing church wall.

Yvonne Elston, 63, from West End, said she had been visiting her son Martyn's grave for almost 40 years.

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

The desperate mother, who has two other children, has watched for three years as the wall above the baby’s grave site, at St Peter's Church in Bishop’s Waltham, began to collapse.

Since the mothers’ pleas for help, the church has told the Echo it "won’t allow her son’s resting place to disappear".

Reverend James Hunt, Rector of St Peter’s Church in Bishop’s Waltham, said: “We have only just become aware of Yvonne’s concerns regarding the wall, close to where her son Martyn’s ashes are interred in our churchyard.

“As we are responsible for the maintenance of this churchyard, we were very sympathetic to her concerns.

READ MORE: Mum in desperate bid to save her baby's grave from destruction

“The wall in question has been damaged by the roots of a holm oak, which is growing on land owned by a private individual next to the churchyard.”

The church reverend said that the St Peter's Parochial Church Council has been working on ways to resolve this problem for some time, in liaison with the owner of the private land.

He continued: “We have been taking some specialist advice.

“The position will continue to be closely monitored as the various options are considered. If the wall is deemed to be unsafe, then it can be taken down and replaced with a new wall in the same style.

“Should this need to happen we will, of course, liaise with Yvonne and other families of those whose loved ones have been buried or interred in the churchyard nearby, to ensure that any work is done with the utmost sensitivity.

“We have now been in touch with Yvonne and reassured her that we won’t allow her son’s resting place to disappear.”

Reacting to the positive news, Yvonne said: “I’m happy to know someone is aware of the situation and dealing with it – that has given me some real peace of mind.”