GRAVEDIGGER Steve Buttle is hanging up his spade for good next week after 43 years working in Croydon's cemeteries.

Over the years Steve has become one of the most recognisable faces from the council's cemetery and crematorium department.

It all began in 1967 when he became a gardener responsible for maintaining the grounds at Croydon Cemetery, in Mitcham Road.

Steve, 59, recalled: "When I left school I was going to do carpentry but two of my cousins worked at the cemetery and said there was a vacancy coming up.

"I always liked the idea of working outside so when I had the chance I applied and got the job. I've never looked back."

Steve's green-fingered talents soon won him a promotion into the cemetery's greenhouse, where he worked preparing flowers for the graves until the late 1980s.

It was while working there that he had a lucky escape after the roof of the nearby Slazenger sports equipment factory blew off and crashed into one of the greenhouses during the Great Storm of 1987.

After a short stint as a supervisor at Mitcham Road, where he coordinated the day-to-day running of the cemetery, his remit widened and he took up his current role as a grave digger.

He now digs graves at three cemeteries – in Mitcham Road, Queen's Road in Thornton Heath, and Greenlawn Memorial Park in Warlingham.

He admits that being in such constant contact with mourning families can take its toll.

"If we are burying a baby or a young child it's very upsetting," he said. "It just doesn't seem fair when it's a child. It's one of the worst feelings imaginable, but it's bad enough however old someone is.

"We are often the first contact families have. They come round with us and select what plot they want. I try to put them at ease, to be strong and offer support."

Losing his own wife ten years ago, when she died of ovarian cancer aged 47, means he understands all too well the grief relatives are going through.

"I was in bits and couldn't even think of taking a funeral or continue to do my job," he said. "But I managed to pull myself together again and return to work. I'm glad I did because it gave me perspective and made me realise how fulfilling the work I do really is."

On Wednesday Steve will retire from Croydon Council, just before his 60th birthday on July 29.

He plans to spend his retirement transforming the garden of his home in Nutley, East Sussex, with his partner Sylvia, and enjoying the company of her three daughters and five grandchildren.