A MAN complained that Overdale Cemetery was massively untidy when he went to pay respects to his loved ones for Eid.

Muslims traditionally visit the graves of their loved ones on the holiday after they have been to prayers.

Families visit the graves of their family members, clean the graveside and offer D’uaa – or prayers – to Allah for forgiveness and also pray that their loved one’s souls find peace.

Overdale Cemetery is situated next to Heaton Cemetery and has had an area designated for Islamic burials for some years.

Lukman Patel visited the cemetery on Tuesday morning and was appalled by the condition he found it in.

He said: "The bins haven't been emptied. It was like a bomb site.

"With it being Eid, you'd hope it would be nice for everyone to go down and visit their loved ones but clearly that wasn't the case.

"Hundreds of people will be visiting for Eid and it's not a great sight.

"It's the same in both of the cemeteries, old and new."

Last year, grieving son Faroz Khan hit out at the council for not emptying the bins regularly enough.

He said mourners regularly saw rubbish flying around the cemetery because the bins are always overflowing.

At the time, the council said they would make more of an effort to ensure it stayed tidy but Mr Patel does not think this has been the case.

He added: "About nine months ago the council said that the bins would be emptied three times a week and that they would regularly monitor the situation.

"It certainly doesn't seem like that's what's happened."

Heaton and Lostock councillor Bob Allen empathised with Mr Patel but said that the cemetery's lack of resources made it difficult to maintain.

He said: "It's very difficult maintaining the cemetery as there's not a lot of staff.

"What I will say, is that if the cemetery get complaints, they're generally very good at dealing with them.

"It's a very important civic site and I'm very concious that it needs to be good"

Bolton Council claimed that the issue arose from the fact that litter pickers had cleared the cemetery of rubbish over the weekend and filled the bins up.

They confirmed that the bins were emptied later on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “Staff and volunteers have been busy over the weekend clearing both graves and grass verges in advance of the end of Ramadan.

“Consequently, many of the bins were filled but these have been emptied today.

“A final inspection will be carried out ahead of the anticipated busy period.”