A BLACKBURN woman has pleaded with dog owners to show more respect after a memorial garden where her family’s ashes are scattered was covered in dog mess.

Melissa MacFarlane said many walkers in Fernhurst were unaware that the plot at St Bartholomew’s CE Church, which contains the remains of her father and two brothers, is a memorial.

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Church bosses said a professional company was used to maintain the land, in Jack Walker Way, and signs were in place to warn visitors about its importance.

Mrs McFarlane, 33, said she visited the garden frequently to pay her respects to her father, Chris Whitehead, and brothers Courtney Whitehead and Marvin Whitehead, who was murdered in Todmorden in 2003. She said: “I regularly visit the garden to see my dad, who was a very big part of the church when he was alive.

“I was devastated to see that residents of the area are now allowing their dogs to defecate in the garden.

“Some dog mess in particular was at the exact spot where my dad and brothers are buried.

“It is becoming apparent that there is a lot of upset from other people who have relatives buried in the garden and I would like to raise this as an issue.

“There should be more signs in place to let residents know that this is a place of burial and the garden is very poorly maintained.”

The memorial garden was put in place after the refurbishment of the church and the adjoining Redeemer CE Primary School in 2004.

The Rev Richard Marshall, vicar at St Bartholomew’s, said: “We have a professional company who regularly maintain the memorial garden and I am happy with the level of service they deliver.

“I am not happy that Mrs MacFarlane feels this way.

“There are carefully-worded signs quite clearly on the entrance gates telling people that this is Bartholomew Memorial Garden.

“Anyone allowing dogs to foul in that area clearly should not be doing so.

“It has been maintained over a long period of time. We take our responsibilities very seriously and I will raise this matter with the parochial church council.”