An appeal has been made to help restore the overgrown historic graveyard in Folkestone.

The Friends of Old Folkestone Cemetery group has been formed by Shepway District Council chairman Cllr Janet Holben, who saw the neglected tombstones in Cheriton Road on Armistice Day.

She said: “After the service, as I walked to the car I looked back over my shoulder at this Victorian cemetery and made a mental note to come back for a look.

“A week later my partner Richard and I took a walk around.

“I noticed there were many Commonwealth war grave headstones and I started to look closer at the other headstones and handsome memorials.

“It contains so much of Folkestone’s civic, military and social history, albeit many headstones and memorials are overgrown.”

Historian Peter Anderson helped to identify graves of importance and, just five months in, some weeds and unwanted brambles have been cleared. But more work is yet to be done, Cllr Holben has stressed.

She said: “Victorian cemeteries have been neglected across the country and that is true here, too, with many graves no longer being tended by families as they have moved out of the area. There are no more burials there, but it is just amazing.”

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission helps to maintain them.