Security measures are being introduced to prevent thieves raiding a cemetery after a string of memorial plaques were stolen.

Wandsworth police confirmed a report that 20 bronze plaques had been stolen from the rose garden in Lambeth Cemetery by callous thieves.

One woman, who asked not to be named, made the shock discovery when visiting a relative's memorial at the cemetery in Blackshaw Road, Tooting, during the summer holidays.

She said: "I was horrified. The whole row of around 50 plaques had been stolen, the rose bed were bare. These were memorials to people who have been created.

"It is disgusting. Presumably they were stolen for the metal. Someone should be doing something to prevent this."

A Lambeth Council spokeswoman said the authority was supporting a police investigation into the theft of up to 30 plaques, and had been replacing the memorials - which cost about £26 each - when contacted by any mourner who discovers their loved one's plaque had gone.

She said "We're strengthening the boundary to make it less accessible. We're also 'concreting in' the plaques to make them more difficult to remove."