St Mary’s Church cemetery in Long Sutton used as dumping ground for charity clothing bags

Bags full of charity clothing have been dumped on a memorial bench and family tomb in a church’s cemetery.

Residents in Long Sutton have complained about bags of clothing from The Salvation Army charity bin in the Co-op car park being dumped at St Mary’s Church graveyard.

The Co-op has been approached about the situation in which people are accessing the bin, trying on clothes they want to keep and discarding unwanted items in the cemetery.

Coun Jack Tyrrell, who represents the Long Sutton ward at the district council, said: “It is just disgusting.

“It is where they are putting it that is disrespectful.

“If it was on a seat in town it might be a bit different.”

The memorial bench, which carries a tribute to a young man, has been covered with four bin bags and clothing left underneath it.

An opened bin bag of clothing was also discarded on a family tomb.

Coun Tyrrell added: “It may be kids being silly and I am hoping it is not anybody older being stupid.

“Long Sutton is a nice place to live but we get this.

“I hope they don’t do it again.”

Long Sutton Parish Council members are asking residents not to leave bags next to the charity bins and to dispose of items responsibly.

A spokesperson from The Salvation Army said: “We are very saddened when clothes that are kindly donated to our clothing banks are stolen.

“Whilst we do not have any prior knowledge of a recent incident, we ask if anyone has information about thefts from our clothing banks to contact the local police.

“Protecting our clothing banks is a priority and we monitor and visit our clothing banks on a regular, often daily, basis.

“Bank theft is an issue that we deal with as part of our operations and when we are alerted to an incident or as part of our regular checks, we will take steps to secure the bank such as replacing damaged locks if required.

“We are very grateful to members of the public for supporting us.”