An appeal on social media led to a woman locked inside Eastwood Cemetery, March, being rescued –but not until she waited sometime for a key holder to arrive.

Cambs Times: Eastwood CemeteryEastwood Cemetery (Image: Archant)

A Cambs Times reader has described how her friend visiting from Bury St Edmunds accidentally got locked inside the cemetery a week ago.

The woman, Paula, told us: “My friend from Bury St Edmunds went to Eastwood Cemetery to visit a grave.

“The gate was open so they drove in. When they tried to get out the gate was locked.

“They rang Fenland Council and only people with disabilities have keys and are supposed to lock the gates after them.

“However someone had left the gates open so my friend drove in and got locked in.”

Our reader said: “My friend rang the council and they said they would find a key holder and ring her back.

“Ages later they rang and said that someone was coming after she had finished work with a key.

“When she got there though it was the wrong key; they hadn’t been able to get hold of a proper key holder.”

Our reader said that an appeal then went out on the March Free Discussion site on Facebook to find someone with a key.

“She put the story out there and asked if someone could help- eventually someone went with a key arrived to let her out.”

The woman who put out the Facebook appeal wrote: “Does anyone have a key to Eastwood cemetery please? Would you be able to go and let someone in a car out?

“They went in as a key holder had left the gate open and now have been locked in a couple of hours.

“Fenland Council has been trying, and still are trying, to contact a key holder, but no luck yet; thank you if you are able to help.”

One other post said: “My dad is a key holder as he holds a blue badge. The gates are supposed to be kept closed by all key holders but there are a few who seem to think those rules don’t apply.

“Perhaps the council should send a letter to the key holders reminding them of that. There is one in particular who cannot be bothered to close it on his exit. “

He warned the ‘offending’ regular user: “When I see you your registration plate it will get reported to FDC; it’s a cemetery not a playground for your kids.”

The cemetery, which houses the grave of Ben Gimbert, a local railwayman who saved the town of Soham from disaster in 1944, is one of six managed by Fenland Council.

The council has described Eastwood as “beautiful and very well maintained place and we do our utmost to keep it like that.

“We keep it open all hours for people visiting on foot because it is right that people should be able to visit their loved ones’ graves whenever they wish. The main gates should be locked by the key holders who visit.”

Their statement, issued late last year following reports of vandalism there, added: “We do not have the resources to monitor the cemetery 24 hours a day. We have to rely on people behaving decently and treating it with proper respect.”