DOG walkers will be warned to respect a cemetery – after a family was horrified to find paw prints on their son’s grave.

Jayne Martin, 45, says they regularly see people letting their pets off the lead in Brookwood Cemetery, Eastleigh, allowing them to run across graves and memorials.

On several occasions, Jayne has had to wipe off paw prints from the memorial stone for her son Jack, who died of leukaemia last year at the age of 15.

Jayne, from Oaktree Way, Eastleigh, said: “I dread to think what else may have been left there.

“People should be banned from taking their dogs into the cemetery.

“The thought of one relieving itself on a headstone appals me.”

The cemetery is self-contained, but does have a small field on one side that will be used at some point in the future for burials.

Jayne added: “People just go there to walk their dogs – it’s not even a cut-through to somewhere else.

“I don’t understand it, considering there are parks all around.

“If their relative was buried there and a dog was cocking its leg over their grave I think they’d think differently.

“We’ve got a dog ourselves and if we go down there, the dog stays in the car.

“Jack had nine years of going through hell when he had leukaemia – but I know he would give them a good telling off if he were here.”

Dogs are allowed in the cemetery under Eastleigh Council rules, but should be kept on a lead.

John Mullen, 47, from Kipling Road, Eastleigh, says he lets his dog Tyler off the lead in the cemetery – but he was not aware it was a problem.

He said his dog stays on the pavement and he uses dog litter bags.

“He’s quite well behaved. If I knew it was a problem I would put him on the lead.

“But I have noticed in the last six months that more people are using the cemetery for dog walking.”

Eastleigh Council has promised to put up prominent signs telling owners to keep their pets on a lead.

A spokesman said: “The council would like to remind those people who use the cemetery to walk their dogs to keep them on a lead and respect the area in which they are walking.

“We will be putting up extra signs to remind dog walkers of this.”