THROUGH your columns, could someone who is responsible for the maintenance of the churchyard at Christ Church, Eccleston, explain why it is such an absolute disgrace.

The grass is so high that most of the gravestones are hidden and what was once a well-kept graveyard at the side of one of the loveliest churches in St Helens, is now an overgrown eyesore.

It is an insult to its parishioners and to all those who are buried there. Christ Church used to be a place where you could spend time tending a family grave but it is now so desolate that I, for one, find it very unnerving to visit. I find it heartbreaking that such a lovely churchyard should be allowed to deteriorate to such standards.

My dad will always be loved and missed -- so can the officials from the church give him and everyone else who is buried in the churchyard, the respect they deserve by restoring Christ Church graveyard to its former glory.

L.M. (full name and address supplied).