The Bendigo Cemeteries Trust has issued a warning to the community to be extremely careful when visiting graves, with lawn areas worst affected.

More than 500 sites across the five cemeteries managed by the trust are in need of repair after heavy rain caused soil to sink.

It could take the trust days or weeks to repair all the sites.

Trust chief executive Bruce Macumber said the wet ground was making the job harder.

“Because of the extraordinarily heavy rain we’ve had, some of the graves, particularly the more recent sites, have subsided,” he said.

“It makes it very difficult because there are so many.”

Mr Macumber said all available crews were working to refill the graves and re-establish full access.

“We’ve ordered 80 cubic metres of topsoil,” he said.

“The difficulty also is that we can’t get machinery or equipment in there because of the softness of the ground. Even wheelbarrows get bogged.”

Mr Macumber said the rainfall, more than 80mm in two days, had been a phenomenal occurrence.

“Once it dries out it will be fine,” he said.

“People can still visit, but the trust has established signs for people to be very cautious.

“We don’t want people to trip or fall over, or come across muddy areas.”