OVERGROWN and litter-strewn council cemeteries in Bingley disrespect the dead, say family research experts who have complained to City Hall.

Thomas and Emily Topley, from Eldwick, do voluntary work for Find a Grave - an American genealogy association - and were horrified when they tried to search for a headstone in the Bradford Council run plot opposite All Saints Church on Keighley Road.

"It just really broke my heart to see how neglected it was and what disrespect it reflected on our ancestors," said Mrs Topley, who moved to Yorkshire from Texas eight years ago.

"I was truly appalled by all the litter, the broken glass and rubbish everywhere and the fact the place is covered in high grass, weeds and briars.

"At first I emailed All Saints church, but was told the cemetery has been under Bradford Council's control since Keighley Road was redirected in the early 1900s and cut though the original graveyard.

"So I emailed Bradford Council a week ago, but nothing has been done," she said yesterday.

Her husband said when they continued researching at Bingley Cemetery, the memorial stones moved there due to that historic road building were even more overgrown.

"They appear to have just dumped them in a sloping section of the site and forgotten about them," said retired nurse Mr Topley.

"We were hunting for the grave of a Bingley man, Christopher Whittaker, who went to fight for the Confederate army in the American Civil War.

"Surprisingly, there were of lot of young adventurous Englishmen who went over to join in, perhaps with the promise of some land at the end of it."

"There's no way you can clear it off to try and find the stones and searching the cemetery is like looking for a needle in a haystack anyway, because it's not in clear sections.

"There should be proper stone markers for all of the sections, but you simply can't find most of them.

"It's a bit of a disgrace."

A Bradford council spokesman said: "As a complaint has been made regarding the upkeep of these cemeteries in Bingley it will be dealt with as promptly as possible."

A spokesman for All Saints Church said they were aware of problems at the Keighley Road site and would be using Mrs Topley's comments as a reason to chase up the Council with their own additional complaint.

Terry Brown, chairman of Bingley's new town council said cemeteries were not within its responsibility, but added: "We've got the first Annual Town Council on Tuesday, May 31 and that's for the electorate to come along and tell us what they think should be done around the town

"It's their meeting, everyone can speak and we want to hear about issues just like this."