A village church in Newcastle has hit out at “underhand” council bosses after the local authority stopped cutting its grass.
St Matthew’s Church, in Dinnington, claims Newcastle City Council has broken a decades-long pact to look after the churchyard free of charge and is now facing a hefty bill to cover the costs. The church’s vicar said the news came “out of the blue with no notice whatsoever” and that he was quoted £475 from the council for just four more cuts this year.
The Rev Mark Edwards MBE, who says a “gentlemen’s agreement” with the civic centre over the churchyard’s upkeep had been in place long before he arrived in the parish in 2008, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We are a small fellowship and those who worship with us give voluntarily and sacrificially out of their own pockets to enable us to remain open to the community.
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