GRIEVING family members were left standing in the cold, as the wrong grave was dug up for their loved one in Caerleon cemetery.

Pamela Kilvington, who had lived in Caerleon all her life, died on January 8. After a service in Caerleon on Thursday, the family headed to the nearby cemetery for the burial. Mrs Kilvington was to be buried alongside her parents in the cemetery on Cold Bath road.

Lisa Kilvington, Mrs Kilvington’s granddaughter, said: “We arrived and my dad’s face dropped because we were going to the wrong part of the cemetery.”

The council had dug up the wrong grave. Ms Kilvington said the council workers had all the correct details and she was confused as to how the mix up had happened.

She said: “We had to stand there and watch and wait while the council workers filled in the other grave and dug up the right one.”

Ms Kilvington said older friends and family who had come to the burial were unable to stand around in the cold and ended up leaving.

“We just couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“The whole family had to watch and no family wants to see that.”

According to Ms Kilvington, her family paid the council a fee of £950 to dig up the grave.

She was unable to find out who the grave which had been wrongly dug up belonged to, as the stone had been removed.

She said: “I want that family to know what happened.”

A Newport City Council spokesman said: “As a good will gesture, Newport City Council will waive the burial fees for the family.

“[We] would like to apologise to both families for any distress or upset that was caused.

“The council regrets what happened which was the result of an administrative error and will endeavour to ensure that this does not happen again. It must be stressed that no one was buried in the wrong grave. There was a hold up of one hour while the correct grave was dug for which we apologise.

“The council will be making every effort to contact the family whose grave was dug up by mistake to explain the situation and to apologise. Work is taking place to return it to its original condition.”