A Glasgow crematorium has been forced to change its access arrangements after rubbish was fly-tipped in its car park.
The Hurlet Crematorium, on Glasgow Road, said staff arrived at the site to discover waste had been dumped within the grounds.
Images shared by the crematorium show a pile of discarded items left at the edge of the car park.
The crematorium said the incident was particularly upsetting because its grounds and memorial gardens are intended to provide a peaceful place for families remembering loved ones.
Following the discovery, the venue has decided its main gates will now be locked whenever staff are not on site.
At weekends, the gates will be open between 11am and 3pm.
The Hurlet said it recognised that families often visit the memorial gardens outside normal working hours and apologised for the impact the change could have.
A separate pedestrian access gate is now set to be installed as soon as possible, allowing people to continue visiting the gardens while the main vehicle entrance remains secured.
In a statement, The Hurlet team said: "We were incredibly saddened to arrive at The Hurlet this morning to discover that someone had fly-tipped rubbish in our car park.
"Our grounds and memorial gardens are very special places, offering peace, comfort and somewhere for families to visit and remember their loved ones. Our team works incredibly hard to keep them looking beautiful, so to see such a lack of respect for our surroundings is really upsetting.
"Unfortunately, we simply cannot risk this happening again, and we have been left with no choice but to lock our main gates when there are no staff on site. During weekends the gates will be opened between 11am and 3pm.
"We fully appreciate that many families like to visit our gardens outside of our normal working hours, and we are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We will be arranging for a pedestrian access gate to be installed as soon as possible, so that families can continue to visit while allowing us to keep the main vehicle gates secure.
"This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we have a responsibility to protect our beautiful grounds and the peaceful environment that means so much to so many people.
"Thank you, as always, for your understanding and support."
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