A councillor supporting parents whose children’s graves have been vandalised in a High Wycombe cemetery says the problem needs “nipping in the bud urgently.”

Cllr Matt Knight urged his colleagues on the Wycombe District Council’s Cabinet to make sure the issue of vandalism in the cemetery on Hampden Road was dealt with quickly.

One of the recommendations approved by the Cabinet on Monday night was to bring a report on the issue back to the High Wycombe Town Committee in a year’s time in a bid to provide information on the number of reported incidents that have been recorded during that time.

Cllr Knight, from the East Wycombe Independent Party, said a year is too long considering a number of arrests have been made in connection with criminal damage at the graveyard since the issue was first raised.

He said: “I really welcome the new signage and monitoring at the cemetery. In recent weeks there have been developments in that there have been arrests reported in the local press.

“When the petition was first presented there was some suggestion that this suspicion of vandalism was misguided and that damage was actually down to the grounds staff. The idea of vandalism was played down.

“The monitoring was put in place to see if that was what was going on. Because of this progress, I was just wondering if a year is too far in the future.

“This is a matter that needs to be nipped in the bud and dealt with urgently.”

Cllr Tony Green, chair of the town committee, reassured the concerned councillor that if another incident arises, the issue will be brought back before them.

He said: “We’re not leaving it a year. If there is no or low level activity that is deemed to be normal, then we don’t need a report back for a year but of course if there is anything significant, we will be informed as a committee as soon as possible.”

Another approved recommendation was that the number of reported incidents be monitored alongside the new process for recording the removal of items from graves by Council officers.

However, Darren Chandler, who started the campaign on the vandalism, said: “The workers shouldn’t be moving things anyway – if it needs to be moved, let the family know, it is as simple as that.”