GRIMEBUSTING churchgoers have set themselves the tough task of transforming an overgrown and neglected wilderness back into a churchyard.

Congregation members from St Mary's RC Church in Clayton-le-Moors have joined their parish priest Father Joe Feeley to tackle the big job.

And they have got their work cut out.

Father Feeley explained: "The churchyard on Burnley Road has not been used for at least 25 years and it has fallen into a poor state of disrepair.

"It was originally built to adjoin the old St Mary's Church which was built in 1818. But then the old church was knocked down and the new one was built in Devonshire Drive.

"Over the years it was used less and less and eventually was just left to its own devices.

"It became really overgrown and also suffered from vandalism.

"Some of the old graves have been knocked down and others are falling down because of subsidence.

"I came to St Mary's almost two years ago and I decided I would like to see the graveyard transformed back into the original condition.

"Now we have got a team of volunteers together and slowly but surely we are tackling the problems.

"It is very difficult to keep on top of and we do need to buy some equipment.

"At the moment we are mainly tackling the overgrown grass and weeds but eventually we want to map-out all the graves for local history purposes.

"We also want to make this into a pleasant area that the people of Clayton-le-Moors can be proud of and that also shows respect for the dead."

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