People living in the village are now being urged to be vigilant after the spate of flytipping, which began three weeks ago when bags of rubbish were dumped in the driveway of St Mary's Church, in Church Hill.

A week later, an old sofa and chairs appeared in the same place, leaving church staff with the task and cost of removing it to make way for a large wedding the following day.

Rubbish was strewn all down the driveway, said The Rev Martin Davies, vicar of the church.

It is really inconvenient to dump down there in the church grounds as we have functions taking place all the time funerals, weddings and christenings.

Mr Davies went through the rubbish in the bags in the hope of finding evidence of an address, but to no avail.

We told the police, who made a note of it, and also told the council, but of course it is not on their land so they wont do anything about it, he said.

People living nearby are being encouraged to make a note of a vehicle number plate if they witness any further incidents.

The big problem with the church is it is so tucked away and its so dark down there, said Mr Davies.

And this sort of thing gets done at strange times, but we are all on the look out and hopefully someone will spot something.

He said if anyone sees anything they should call the church on 01895 825 960 or the police on 020 8721 2544.