A VICAR has joined residents in demanding repair work on an historic wall that has been left crumbled over a graveyard for more than seven months.
The wall creates a border between back gardens of west facing properties on Alfred Road and a public graveyard which predates the nearby St Thomas of Canterbury Church in Brentwood, built in 1835.
Reverend Colin Hewitt initially received around a dozen complaints from neighbours and had to inform them the wall and graveyard belong to Brentwood Borough Council.
Since it fell on a windy night last December, nothing has been done by the authority other than the positioning of an incomplete metal fence borrowed from another site bearing signs which read 'No Parking'.
"When I got the call to tell me something had happened I rushed to the church thinking the belfry had fallen or something," said Rev Hewitt.
"It started off as a bit of a bother and then I got all the complaints. I had to keep telling people that they should ring the council.
"When they knew that, the complaints stopped coming to me, but I can see why people thought it was part of the church grounds.
"It seems disrespectful to leave the wall as it is as it may be covering graves.
"People come from Australia and all over the world to visit and if someone turned up to see that it wouldn't look too great."
Alfred Road residents Ian Lawrenson, 52, and his wife Sue, 50, asked the council to address low hanging branches which had been leaning on the wall two years ago.
But a tree surgeon initially trimmed the wrong tree, leaving the structure under pressure from the weighty branches.
"They must have just Googled the street and got the wrong tree. It didn't fall down for no reason.
"We had to get a fence up as quickly as we could because of our dog, but also all our property was open."
The Lawrensons said they spent around £300 building a new fenced partition but have yet to be offered any compensation.
The wall is still standing at the back of neighbour Charlotte Harper's property who said the condition of the structure 'worried' her.
"It looks like the ivy is the only thing holding it up so I'm not touching it or going anywhere near it," said the 25-year-old.
At the other end of the rubble Nick Edwards and wife Irene, both 30, are also concerned.
Mr Edwards had stood on the wall when re-felting his garden shed weeks before the collapse.
"It isn't very good, we keep worrying it's going to fall.
"The engineer told me it was safe but I wouldn't like to have a run at the wall and test it."
Andrew Lynch, 30, was returning home to girlfriend Jordana Peters, 31, with a fish and chip takeaway when he noticed the 'gaping hole' in the wall that had stood behind his house.
"I couldn't believe it," he said.
Councillor Keith Parker, Brentwood Borough Council's spokesman for environment and parking, said: "The maintenance of St Thomas' churchyard is the responsibility of the Borough Council as it is classed as a closed churchyard.
"Building control officers have been on site to determine the stability of the wall and they do not feel it presents an immediate danger.
"Officers have met on site with contractors to arrange repairs and, in the meantime, the site has been fenced off as a precaution whilst repair works are arranged."
