Concerned Croydon residents have called the council after witnessing people driving off with litres of water from a local cemetery.
The council said it was aware of the issue, but added that the huge Mitcham Road Cemetery was difficult to monitor.
Earlier this month, Michael Dettmar spotted one car stop and fill up six large containers by the Thornton Road entrance to Croydon Crematorium, within Mitcham Road Cemetery.
The 78-year-old said it’s not the first time he’s seen this happening on his regular walks with his wife around the cemetery.
Mr Dettmar said: “This particular chap was just in an ordinary car. In the back I could see he had several large water containers.
"I thought, that’s a lot to just water flowers on a grave. But then he did a three point turn and went out.
“Other times I’ve seen builders using the taps too.
"The council has to pay water rates, so everyone that lives in the borough is paying for these guys to take the water. It’s a bit of a cheek.”
Croydon Council’s 2022/23 budget included a forecast of £444,000 for supplies and services related to the borough’s two cemeteries and another £41,000 for what is described as “premises related expenditure.”
Mr Dettmar said he has spoken to cemetery staff about the issue in the past and on this occasion reported it to his local councillor, Stuart King.
An email from the council to Cllr King said: “The filling up of large water containers is a problem that we are aware of and we are already taking a proactive response in advising those seen, not to do so, this has been met with some success and we shall continue to advise that this is a facility for our cemetery visitors, and that the water is not for any other use outside of these parameters.
“The problem we have is that this is a 56 acre site and we can not always monitor as closely as we would like to”.
The email went on to say that pointing a security camera at the tap in question is not an option.
It said this camera needs to point to the entrance of the site to make sure all cars are captured.
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