A FLOCK of sheep have been the unlikely cause of heartbreak to residents of a North Yorkshire village, who say they have been forced to put fences around graves in a churchyard due to damage caused by the animals.

Last year, Kenneth Daniel complained to the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Michael's Church in Well, near Bedale, that the sheep had eaten flowers from his mother’s grave – but this year his brother Allen Daniel said the situation has got worse.

However the local vicar said the grave stones had not been damaged by sheep but had been purposely laid down due to their instability.

Mr Daniel said: “There are about 30 sheep and they are free to run around the old and new parts of the churchyard, and have broken several grave stones.

“I have had to put a small fence around my mother’s grave to protect it, and another village resident has done the same.

“The PCC say it is a tradition to keep sheep in the churchyard but I don’t believe this to be the case – once a former vicar kept around six sheep penned into the old part of the graveyard, where graves are around 100 years old.

“But they are now allowing a whole flock to run around the churchyard and they have been knocking over headstones.”

Another resident, Jean Kitching, said she is too upset to visit her recently-buried husband’s grave because she hates to see the fencing around it.

She said: “My husband was buried on April 25. The sheep have left muck all over the paths in the churchyard and my son has put a cage around my husband’s grave.

“He’s done the best job he can but it isn’t right and it’s very upsetting to see.”

Revd David Cleeves, of St Michael’s Church, said: “We are very sorry that anyone feels aggrieved. We have checked out the gravestones at Well and there is no evidence that any have been damaged by sheep.

“The grazing of sheep twice a year in the churchyard is a long standing tradition which goes back many years, and no one else has complained about it to me.

“In line with national advice, church wardens are required to check grave stones for safety, and several years ago six or seven grave stones were laid down by the churchwarden because it was felt they might be unstable.

“This has been done in many graveyards - church or local authority - right across the country and has nothing to do with sheep.”