The 60-year-old, of Priory Road, Featherstone, was reduced to tears when he visited his wife Doreen’s grave at Knottingley cemetery on what would have been her 69th birthday on Monday.

Mr Cawthra said: “It was horrendous. I didn’t know what to do. It was like walking into the bowels of hell.

“I went down as I always do, to put flowers on her grave and make sure it looks nice and talk to her. But I couldn’t even see her grave under the soil. I was just in shock and in tears.

“I just had to come straight home and ring the council.”

When Mr Cawthra threatened to return to the graveyard with a shovel to remove the soil, he claims he was told he would be arrested.

He said: “There was no apology or anything. They said I would be arrested if I tried to shovel the soil.

“I asked why they couldn’t have dumped the soil on the 10ft wide footpath next to my wife’s grave but they said they could do what they likes and didn’t need permission.

“If they had informed me about what they were going to do, I wouldn’t have gone down that day.

“A phone call is all it would have taken.”

Jerry Spencer, Wakefield Council’s service director for the environment, said: “We regret that this caused distress to Mr Cawthra and apologise if he feels we did not handle his complaint in a sensitive manner.

“Mrs Cawthra’s headstone was covered with a mat during the excavation of the reopened grave and it covered the base of the headstone. We also put up boards to protect the surrounding headstones.

“The spoil was over this grave because the reopened one was in the second line from the path and the graves at the other side had full kerb sets around them, which we try to avoid boarding over. This was the most practical and sensible approach.

“But I do understand from time to time this can cause a lot of upset and distress to families and we do our utmost to avoid this if at all possible.”