'Intimidated' vicar: I was forced to flee

A village vicar today told how he and his family had been forced from their home after a campaign of "intimidation" by parishioners.

The Reverend Mark Sharpe claims he has been the victim of a sinister campaign which saw excrement thrown at his car, his pet dog poisoned and broken glass strewn across his driveway. Mr Sharpe, his wife Sara and their four children are to leave their house in Hanley Broadheath, near Tenbury Wells, today.

They will move to an undisclosed area.

It comes as the union Unite announced Mr Sharpe is retiring on grounds of ill-health at the age of 40.

The union has lodged a claim for constructive dismissal at an employment tribunal and accused bishops of "washing their hands" of the case.

National officer Rachael Maskell said: "The fact that Mark and his family have been forced to leave their home during the so-called season of goodwill at the pinnacle of the Christian year is a disgrace, and a dark stain on the church's reputation.

Fester "This is a toxic parish with a 40-year history of clergy leaving abruptly or in broken health."

Mr Sharpe said: "When we came here in 2005, I was told by the church that they were looking for stability, as the last vicar had left after 18 months for health reasons.

"I found a situation that was allowed to fester for decades, where of the four par- ishes only three were legally constituted. The treasurer and parochial church council were not legal entities.

"These admin and financial problems were all eventually sorted out, but this seemed to spark a wave of resentment from the community which has culminated in my family and I living in a climate of fear in a supposedly rural idyll.

"There have been too ma- ny incidences of harassment over the last four years for them to be the odd coincidence."

A statement on behalf of the Diocese of Worcester denied claims Mr Sharpe and his family had been forced to leave the vicarage.

It read: "It would be wholly inappropriate to comment upon a case which is yet to be heard and will be before an employment tribunal on the basis that the Reverend Mark Sharpe's allegations, including that with regard to a culture of neglect and bullying or otherwise, are wholly denied."