A man has accused Wandsworth Council of desecrating his dead parents' grave after he went to lay flowers for Mother's Day and found their headstone had been broken.

Council officials carried out vital tests on loose headstones last week but failed to tell 57-year-old Dave Woodcock, who came to lay flowers at his mum's grave on Monday.

When he arrived at the Wandsworth Cemetery on Magdalen Road, he found the headstone had been removed and was face down on the grave, chipped and damaged.

He said: "I came up for Mother's Day and found it smashed up. I thought it had been vandalised by kids, but I was livid when a gardener told me it was the council doing it."

The council says it was ordered to do the work by the Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the deaths of four people - including three children killed while playing by loose gravestones.

The spokesman said: "Any headstone found to be loose or in danger of toppling over must be carefully lowered to the ground to reduce the risk of injury for people visiting cemeteries."

However Mr Woodcock, whose mum Helen died in 1971 and dad Walter died 15 years later, said his parent's headstone was only 18 inches high and not big enough to pose a risk.

He said: "It is 18 inches and made of solid concrete with a pin running through it connecting it to the base. It wasn't unstable and now it's broken and chipped. The council is causing upset and grief to bereaved families, it's out of order."

If you are concerned about a relative's grave call the council on 020 8788 2113.