THE grounds officer of Ledbury Cemetery, Mark Bateman, must be wondering if he's the most popular worker in Ledbury, after being given presents by local mums whose children are buried in the cemetery.

The graves are by the cemetery cottage wall, and the mums have been worried recently by town council plans to refurbish the cottage internally, as a work area for Mr Bateman.

The fear was that their children's graves might be disturbed.

But at a recent surprise presentation in the cemetery, the mums made their appreciation of Mr Bateman very clear.

Tracey Reynolds said: "We made his day. Myself, Sam Jones,Lindsay Riley and Melissa Morris gave him a present to say thanks for all the hard work he does around the children's area and the rest of the cemetery."

She added: "He was so chuffed and was in tears that we had shown our appreciation. We have never had a problem with Mark. We can't thank him enough for taking care of our children's resting place. Us mums have been through a lot from losing our children and also through the problems with council about drainage and demolishing around their graves. But not once have we doubted what Mark does to keep everything so tidy down there. He has made the children's area so much more lovely. He has a heart of gold and deserves people to know it."

Sam Jones agreed that Mr Bateman is very much appreciated.

She said: "Our gripe has never been with him, he does an amazing job and has far too much do you. He should be given a massive pay rise as he easily does the work of two. I hope that the 'new council ' would look to review his wages and pay him what he's worth. Never have I seen the cemetery looking so good and it's all down to his dedication and commitment."

Cllr Bob Barnes, Ledbury's mayor for the 2014/2015 term said that staff salaries were reviewed on a yearly basis.

But he added: "Mark does work extremely hard, over and above his working hours, and we have talked about him having an apprentice or assistant.

"It is extremely pleasant of the parents to show their appreciation in this manner."