A distraught husband has been left heartbroken after going to say goodbye to his wife and finding mountains of soil heaped on her grave.

Emily Anne McManus, known as Anne, was just 60-years-old when she tragically died from cancer leaving her family devastated.

Now, three years after her sudden death on Christmas Eve 2011, her husband Tom wanted to say goodbye to his wife before setting off on a trip they last took to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

But Tom has been left distraught after arriving at the loving grandmother’s grave and finding it heaped high with soil – from a freshly dug plot nearby.

His shocked family say they have no idea whether the gravestone has been damaged after Tom found it unrecognisable under the mound at Blacon Cemetery on Tuesday (September 23).

The grave had been decorated with gifts, poems and trinkets lovingly made by grandchildren and nieces in memory of Anne but the family fear they will have been destroyed by the dirt and soil.

The family have called for answers from staff at the cemetery saying they understand new graves have to be dug, but they received no warning and the shock of the state of the grave took them back to the grieving process.

Cheshire West and Chester Council, who have responsibility for the cemetery, have apologised to the McManus family but said such procedures are “common practice” across all graveyards when a new grave is needed in a nearby plot, and the grave was covered with boarding to stop it being damaged.

Daughter Julie said she was worried about her dad, who rang her after visiting the grave before setting off on a holiday to Egypt – an already emotional trip as he has not visited the country since the couple celebrated their 25th anniversary there in 2005.

“This morning I was angry, it is totally disrespectful, I did not have the words to say how I felt,” said Julie, who said she is worried that other families would be left heartbroken especially if they visited after not seeing their loved-one’s grave for a long time.

“My dad is still grieving. He was feeling guilty before he got there [about going to Egypt without Anne] and he was faced with this – it just broke him.”

Julie said her dad, who lives in Blacon, went into the manger’s office but was offered no explanation for the state of the grave.

“My dad cannot get down as much as he would like, he has arthritis in his hands, but it is tidy” said Julie, who lives in Salisbury and can’t currently get to the grave to see if it is damaged.

“They have dug up the plants and moved them, but my niece had written a poem.  There are so many things my niece has made and my kids have made which we put on the grave, we do not know what has been moved and what is under the soil.

“We spent a lot of time picking a headstone, you want it to be special because it’s your mum so you go to town as it’s the only thing you can buy – we do not know if they have damaged it.”

A much-loved grandmother-of-four, Anne died just months after retiring from a job working for Bank of America and five weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

The loving great-grandmother of one, grandmother, mother and wife often holidayed with her husband Tom but he has not been back to Egypt since the couple enjoyed a cruise up the Nile to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, said Julie.

“I don’t know what to do. How many people have felt this way? It is just such a shock.”

A spokesperson for CWaC said that Mr McManus arrived at 8am when a burial was scheduled for 12.30pm, his wife’s grave and another were used to “house” the soil from the nearby plot.

She said: “We apologise to the McManus family however such procedures are common practice across all cemeteries and graveyards when a new grave is required at an adjacent plot.

“All efforts were made to protect the graves in question and this was done by providing a wooden platform across the full length of the graves space to protect the graves and any memorials present.

“Grave owners are advised that when such procedures are required, the grave space will be fully reinstated to its original appearance once the burial has taken place in the adjacent grave space. This information is provided to grave owners when they purchase the exclusive right of burial.

“Unfortunately Mr McManus visited the cemetery before staff had completed the dressing of the soil which is covered with grass matting for a dignified.

“Both graves were fully reinstated following the burial.”