Car park could be built on top of graves in Bridgnorth churchyard
A car park for about 10 vehicles could be built on top of graves in a churchyard in Bridgnorth.
St Mary's Church has a lack of car parking facilities for people with mobility problems, and as such churchgoers have been seen regularly parking in between graves.
Residents hit out at this action on social media when an image of cars parked on the churchyard was posted online.
It sparked a discussion about the parking, with residents condemning it and labelling it "disrespectful" and "disgusting".
Now Rev. Preb Simon Cawdell has said he is in talks about creating a car park on top of some of the graves in the churchyard to aid the less able residents.
He said it will not be concrete, but will be a type of gridding put over the grass to prevent the ground from being disturbed.
He said: "Cars parking in between graves is something which happens around church services.
"We've got quite a lot of elderly members of the congregation who have mobility difficulties and parking in Bridgnorth is extremely difficult on a Sunday morning.
"The church is in ongoing discussions with planning authorities to consider the best way to resolve parking issues in a way which respects the balance that it's a churchyard, and also that we need to consider maintenance and upkeep for it to be reliable we need to have a number of spaces which enable the building to be used efficiently, especially for those who have mobility impairment.
"There's often uncontrolled parking in the churchyard around the time of church events.
"The access to the churchyard is not restricted. One of the things we shall do is to ensure any parking does take place in permitted areas."
Mr Cawdell said the last burials took place about 150 years ago, so there were no safety concerns about the ground being used for a number of cars.
"The last burials were around about 1860 in the churchyard so it's not a safety concern," he added.
"The application would be for an appropriate area for parking which is appropriately restricted and the ground would not suffer any lasting damage."
Mr Cawdell added: "I know some people feel very strongly that parking on the churchyard is disrespectful to the dead.
"We need a balance between respect for the graves and the needs of the ongoing living church. Were they alive the deceased would probably want the church to be living and thriving.
"We would be marking out a modest area of the churchyard where parking was permitted and putting gridding down."
