A WIDOW has accused a North Yorkshire parish council of vandalism after contractors were sent into a village cemetery to prune a line of trees.

Allen Swainston died in a collision with an Army lorry on the tank road between Richmond and Leyburn in 1998 and was buried in a plot close to the home he built in Catterick Village.

Since then, his family have been among a number of volunteers who have planted shrubs and bulbs and kept the graveyard tidy.

But when Shirley Swainston, 66, went to visit the grave last week, she found contractors had cut 25ft from the top of the trees which line the south side of the cemetery.

A tractor they were using had also damaged grass, and branches were strewn across her husband's grave, damaging floral tributes left on the headstone.

"It's nothing short of vandalism in my view," she said. "These trees have been ruined.

"We were never asked what we thought; it just seems so insensitive."

Parish council chairman, Councillor Margaret Tickner, confirmed the administration had called in the contractors in response to a complaint that leaves were blocking drains and gutters.

But she stressed that the decision to do so was made only after following the usual democratic procedures.

It was decided that the trees should be pruned to 25ft.

"We thought 25ft should be the minimum - and they should look a lot better within the next two or three years.''

Adrian McDonald, who owns contracting firm MAC Plant and Tool Hire, said he regretted Mrs Swainston had been upset by the work.

"This was a difficult job in an extremely sensitive location. Some of the trees were not easy to reach and taking so much off them meant there were a lot of sizeable logs and branches to deal with," he said.

Mr McDonald added: "Unfortunately, during the course of the work, it appears flowers on Mrs Swainston's husband's grave were damaged but we hope to meet her so we can talk about some sort of compensation."