A right ding-dong over church’s lavatory

Bellringers are involved in a dispute with their church over plans to install a disabled lavatory which will force them to stand on a platform accessed through a trapdoor.

The area used by bellringers at St Nicholas, Codsall, Staffs, would be blocked off, requiring them to move from their position on the floor of the bell tower to an elevated platform.

The proposal has been approved by the church’s consistory court. Stephen Eyre, of the Diocese of Lichfield, ruled that the lavatory “should be given a higher priority than ensuring troublefree arrangements for bellringing”.