A pensioner claims the churchyard where his wife is buried has become spoilt by piles of rubbish.

Arthur Shayler says rubbish is marring the grounds of St Mary Newnham Murren Church, Crowmarsh Gifford, near Wallingford.

His wife, Rachel, was buried there earlier this month and he has been upset on visits to her grave by the unsightly litter.

Garbage in plastic bags is piled high in refuse containers alongside plastic bottles, garden refuse and wilted grave flowers.

Mr Shayler, 83, of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, near Wallingford, said: "The grass is nice but there are two or three places where they've made a wire netting compound and there's tons and tons of rubbish inside. "Everybody who goes there says it's disgusting."

St Mary's is cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust, but the grounds are maintained by the parish council and the church.

Following Mr Shayler's complaint, the vicar, the Rev Janet Russell, said she was pressing for the rubbish to be cleared.

She said parish council chairman John Bellamy was going to speak to the maintenance contractor.

She had suggested that clearing the rubbish should made an urgent priority.

Mr Shayler, who worked as a fitter for Walter Wilder, of Crowmarsh Gifford, married Rachel, who grew up in the village, in 1939.

She died aged 83 after suffering a stroke.