Man 'disgusted' after waiting six weeks to lay grandmother to rest

The council says it has apologised to a mourner after failing to respond to a request to inter his grandmother at Braywick Cemetery for over a month.

Lilian ‘Lily’ Eggleton passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 4, two days before her 92nd birthday.

She had lived in the same house in Maidenhead for more than 40 years, according to her grandson Barry Martin.

“She was your typical nan,” he said. “Kind, caring, she always saw the best in people – she loved it when people popped in and said hello. She’d sit and chat for ages.

“She loved having a family around taking all her grandkids out. She was always there for you no matter what.”

Lily’s funeral was on January 8. She was cremated, and it was her wish to be interred in Braywick Cemetery in a double plot beside her husband John, who passed away in the late 80s.

Barry, from Slough, was entrusted with this task, and tried his best to honour Lily’s wishes – but could not get hold of Royal Borough’s outdoor facilities team, which runs council burial grounds.

He tried to contact them on January 28 but got nowhere; a pattern that repeated.

Barry says he made multiple phone calls and emails, left three voicemails, made two calls to customer services and two complaints – all without hearing anything of substance for more than six weeks.

On March 12, Barry took to social media to complain about his experience, saying the team should be ‘ashamed’ and calling the service ‘inept’ and ‘clearly not fit for purpose’.

“With such a delicate matter I would have expected a much better service,” he wrote.

Barry received dozens of responses, several of which echoed similar problems at borough-managed cemeteries – including alleged late work on graves and a feeling of being ‘passed from pillar to post’.

Speaking to the Advertiser this week, Barry said he had ‘finally got somewhere’ with the Royal Borough but is still ‘disappointed’ over how long it took.

“I was very close to my nan,” he said on Monday. “It’s just been awful – stressful and extremely upsetting.

“I still have my nan’s ashes sat in my living room in a box. It shouldn’t have taken this long.”

He added: “The [one] email I received [from the council] was just like, ‘Sorry about the situation, we had somebody retire’. That was basically all I got, and that was only because I kicked up a fuss.

“[But] they would have known the person was retiring, so why wasn’t someone in place for when they did? It doesn’t give a very good impression of the council.”

Barry said even a quick phone call ‘would have been appreciated’ to let him know what was going on.

“To have absolutely no communication at all, I think was quite disgusting,” he said.

A council spokesperson said: “We have apologised to the resident for the delay [and he] is now in contact with the funeral director.

“We’ve recently strengthened our cemeteries team following staffing changes and are putting processes in place to ensure enquiries are promptly and with the care they deserve.”

Contact the team via cemeteries@rbwm.gov.uk