THE granddaughter of a well-known former Rishton coach driver has slammed cemetery vandals for attacking his grave.

Walter Barnes, who ran a coach firm in High Street for much of the century, died aged 94 on February 28.

His coffin was decorated with a floral coach-shaped wreath and his family put a silk-flowered replica on his grave.

But when Mr Barnes' son Alan paid a recent visit to Great Harwood Cemetery, the wreath had disappeared. It was later found ripped to shreds on Tottleworth Road in the town by Walter's granddaughter, Gillian.

Now Gillian, 33, of Allan Critchlow Way, Rishton, is warning other grieving relatives to keep watch on the graves of their loved ones.

She said: "We put the silk flowers on grandad's grave because the headstone isn't ready and a lot of people were asking where he was buried. About three weeks after the funeral my dad rang and said the wreath had gone missing. I went to Great Harwood and had a look around. I found the wreath in Tottleworth Road. It was smashed into hundreds of pieces.

"I don't know how someone could do this. They wouldn't be very happy if it was their grandad's grave. I just wanted to warn other people there are vandals around, because I wouldn't want it to happen to anyone else.

"You should be allowed to put what you want on someone's grave without having to worry about it."

Insp Bob Ford, of Great Harwood Police, said he was not aware of the incident.

He added: "I find it absolutely abhorrent, as most people would. It sounds like mindless damage with no particular endeavour, unless a dog or something like that has got hold of it.

"We would urge people to report things like this as well as any information that would help us catch offenders and prevent something like this happening again."

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