THE mother of three-year old cancer victim Abby Smith is refusing to halve the size of her baby daughter's grave to comply with new council regulations.

Primary school teacher Helen Smith's daughter was buried at Whitworth Road Cemetery at the end of July.

And Abby's relatives have lovingly transformed her four-foot long grave into a miniature garden of remembrance planted with brightly coloured flowers, lanterns and with Abby's name spelt out in small stones.

But a month after Abby's funeral, Helen, 33 of Danestone Close, Middleleaze, was astonished to discover that Swindon Council had decided to restrict all graves to a two-foot area, to cut maintenance costs.

Helen said: "This grave is all I have left of my daughter. It is all I have left in my life.

"My daughter's life has been tragically cut short and we feel the need to decorate her grave with fresh flowers and mementos of her life. We could not do that if her grave had a one-foot boarder.

"We are realistic and understand that when the time comes we can grass the patch over when we no longer need to visit the grave that often.

"I come down here every morning to talk to Abby, and again with other family members in the afternoon. It is something I need to do.

"It is all part of the grieving process and I have no idea how long that will go on for.

"Only a bereaved parent can empathise with this need to allow the graves to be four foot long. My family, Abby's father Richard and I, are totally devastated.

"The pain is unbearable and our lives have become a constant struggle. My family and I are faced with a lifetime of pain and yet there are obstacles placed in our way that denies us the solace to grieve and mourn for our precious Abby. Yet once again it comes down to money and decisions made by people in power."

The decision to restrict the size of graves was made at a council meeting at the start of September, after Swindon Services said that allowing the larger plots would add £25,000 to maintenance costs because of the increased difficulty in cutting grass around graves.

The decision affects about 250 of the 6,000 plots in the cemetery.

Councillor Maureen Dilley, lead member for Swindon Services said: 'When purchasing a grave space, a legally binding agreement is signed by the owner who agrees to keep to the regulations.

"These were recently reviewed by the council who, having given careful consideration to the views of families who were unhappy about the restrictions, agreed to re-endorse them in order to improve and maintain the standards of the grounds and generally to make the cemetery more aesthetically pleasing."