A stone wall costing £13,500 is being erected at a North Yorkshire cemetery to separate grieving relatives from a nearby children's play area.

The 6ft high wall has been given council approval at Knaresborough Cemetery after complaints from relatives and mourners that they were unable to grieve in peace.

Long-serving Knaresborough councillor Andy Wright said the move had been welcomed by the town council.

He said it had taken about five years to achieve after an extension to the cemetery had previously been enclosed only by railings, which gave no privacy to those visiting graves or attending burials and led to complaints.

Some people had described the experience as like mourning in an open field.

Two Knaresborough councillors, husband and wife John and Diane Smith, have each donated £2,000 from their personal Harrogate Borough Council budgets to help finance the scheme.

Knaresborough Town Council has agreed to pay £4,000 and the borough council will spend £5,500 on it.

Coun Wright said: "It was very distressing for people visiting the cemetery when they wanted peace and quiet to grieve, and yet on the other hand you could not blame children using the playground for making a noise.

"That's what a children's playground is there for."

One relative, whose father is buried at the cemetery, made a personal plea at a council meeting for the wall to be built.

Construction work at the cemetery is scheduled to start in the New Year.