A mother has been left devastated after a memorial bench commemorating her dead son, brother and parents was damaged.

Geraldine Norton has hit out at the “lowest of the low”, who she believes are responsible for skidding a vehicle into the solid oak bench, which has been standing in Nab Wood Cemetery, Shipley, since September.

It bears the name of her son, Jason Matthew Hall, who died suddenly in his sleep, aged 36, following a virus which triggered an underlying heart condition.

A bronze plaque commemorating Mrs Norton’s brother, Peter Hall, who died in a car crash in 1966, also appears on the bench, alongside two others with the names of her late parents, Margaret and Roland Hall.

Mrs Norton, 58, of Central Avenue, Shipley, said she was “disgusted” that nobody had owned up to causing the damage to the £842 bench.

She said: “Me and my husband, Stuart, went down every week to tidy and polish the plaques, and now somebody has skidded into it and broken it.

“It has only been there since September and we can’t afford to replace it because it has to be specially-made.”

Mrs Norton, who has suffered a stroke, added: “I don’t know who has done this, but whoever it is, they are the lowest of the low.”

Mrs Norton said she had not come to terms with the death of Jason, who was known to his friends and family as Jay. The former Bradford & Bingley worker died in his sleep on June 1, 2009. It was only after he died that his parents realised he had suffered from the heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Her brother Peter, a teacher, had only been married for six weeks he was killed on his way to work in Tadcaster. Mrs Norton’s mum and dad passed away in 1986 and 2001 respectively.

Mrs Norton said: “We just wanted to have the bench so we could remember them all and now this happens.”

Phil Barker, Assistant Director for Leisure Services at Bradford Council, which runs the cemetery, said: “Unfortunately, the memorial bench seems to have been accidentally damaged and we have already expressed our sympathy to the owner.

“However, it is a condition of placing such memorials in cemeteries that the owner accepts full responsibility for repairs and maintenance. The damage to the bench was not caused by Bradford Council.”