A heartless thief stole flowers from the grave of a Budock man's wife.

Lionel and Monica MacDonald were married for 50 years. She sadly passed away in 2017 and was buried in Budock Church graveyard.

Retired Lionel, 74, visits her grave two or three times a week with his dog Alfie.

He said: "I miss her. It pulls the heartstrings. I come up here and make sure the flowers are nice, that's all I can do."

Last Monday, Lionel's grandson Ben visited the village from Bristol to pay his respects and leave two bunches of flowers on his grandmother's grave – white and red roses.

The next day, they were gone.

Lionel said: "I call it bloody pathetic, I really do. I was absolutely, really annoyed. Beggar's belief that somebody would do that off a grave, for god's sake.

"If I wanted fresh flowers for my wife I would buy some, I wouldn't take them.

"This country, this world is going to cock."

Behind Monica's grave is one belonging to a young RAF man.

A bottle of beer had been left on his grave for months, said Lionel, and it disappeared at the same time as his wife's flowers.

He searched up and down the graveyard and could not find a trace of the missing flowers, which were wrapped in cellophane.

Other flowers, in pots, were not taken.

Lionel said: "I think it's absolutely disgusting. There's lower things you can do in life but it's pretty close to low. Why would you do it? I don't understand."

Plants have also been stolen from Custom House Quay in recent weeks.

The perpetrator was caught on camera and confronted by a skipper.

He denied being responsible but ended up offering £10 to replace them.