A Guiseley man who visits Horsforth Cemetery every day says he is appalled at the 'sacrilegious vandalism' he has discovered there.

Nick Joy, from Stanley Grove, visits the cemetery off Calverley Lane every day to tend to the graves of two close friends.

But in the past couple of weeks he has noticed that gravestones have been broken, there are tyre marks on the grass and that the whole area is looking untidy.

At first Mr Joy thought that vandals were to blame, but this week he claims to have seen a Leeds City Council contracted mower being driven erratically in the cemetery.

He said: "I was sure it was vandals but then I saw what was happening with my own eyes.

"I saw a young lad on a drive -on mower who only looked about 16 or 17-years-old and he was tearing around the cemetery.

"This is absolutely sacrilegious. When I rang the council, the woman told me that the boy might need more training but I want to know who will repair the gravestones and tell the families.

"Some of the families only come once or twice a year so they could be in for a really upsetting shock if nothing is done."

Now Councillor Andy Barker (Lib Dem, Horsforth) has pledged to sort the matter out.

He said: "I was contacted by Mr Joy and we are both disgusted. This is sacrilegious and something must be done. There are some lovely gravestones and the cemetery is supposed to be a sacred place so to hear that a council worker could be involved is awful."

A spokesman for Leeds City Council said: "We take great care to avoid damaging headstones and memorials. We use herbicide to control the growth of grass around them so we do not have to bring machines too close.

"On the rare occasions that some damage is caused, we would urge people to report it to us so that we can investigate and, if necessary, compensate the family concerned."