AN unkempt memorial garden for families of loved ones who had been repatriated through RAF Lyneham was tidied after visitors complained about it being a “disgrace”.

John and Anne Vincent from Hampshire visited the MoD Lyneham Garden of Remembrance at the end of last month, and were disappointed to see overgrown weeds and grass.

Unveiled in 2016, the memorial gardens situated outside MoD Lyneham, next to the REME Museum is used by families of servicemen.

Mr Vincent, 74, said: “The garden has been allowed to become unkempt with weeds growing freely and split sandbag walling.

“It is a disgrace to the fallen and we feel the families of the repatriated must be just as appalled when they visit.

“The memorial gardens should be a focal point for those entering the Lyneham establishment, and the villagers of Lyneham, just like any memorial to the fallen.”

Cllr Allison Bucknell said that similar concerns had been raised in the past.

“It is meant to be a wild-style garden, but I think there is wild and then there is untidy.

“I have had discussions on it in the past and I am having discussions at the moment.

“It is upsetting the people it was meant to help.

“It needs to be something people are proud of.”

The garden was designed with wild flowers adorning the banks, and incorporates sand bags and three standing stones.

A spokesman for MoD Lyneham said: “The very nature of the garden is that it will look wild throughout the year, but that as the season progresses it will come into bloom.

“Trainees from 8 Training Battalion REME have this week been tending and weeding the garden.

“There is a longer-term plan to care for the garden including plans to replace the sandbags, which are part of the design but have since split.”