An historic graveyard has been saved from closure - thanks to the Plymouth Evening Herald.

The newspaper launched a campaign to keep the Ford Park Cemetery open after the private company running it was forced into liquidation.

A trust was founded by concerned residents, which raised £5,000 to keep the cemetery alive.

And the money has gone towards restoring old offices at the graveyard which will now be staffed by volunteers.

One of the main features of the office is a computerised database of names, grave locations and transcriptions.

The new headquarters were opened by the Plymouth Lord Mayor, Dennis Camp, in a ceremony attended by representatives of HMS Raleigh and Trust volunteers.

He said: "Plymouth's history is recorded here. What happened to the cemetery in recent years was absolutely disgraceful, and I am delighted that Plymouthians have now got together to restore Ford Park."

Work on the office was led by trustee Jean Northey, who said: "The office has been open on an informal basis for a while with about 10 of us working there, and it is already being used.

"People are starting to use us to find information about the graves, which is great. We hope that it will increase."

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