Holy Trinity Church, Dover Street, Sittingbourne should have had the cash

by Hayley Robinson

hrobinson@thekmgroup.co.uk

A church thought its prayers had been answered when it was told it had been left £67,000 in a will.

Holy Trinity received the money last September and council members decided to spend £6,000 of it on repairs to the building in Green Porch Close, Milton Regis.

But at the beginning of July, treasurer Sue Thomas received a letter from John Morley Solicitors saying they had made an error when administering the will.

The money should have gone 1.4 miles down the road to Holy Trinity Church in Dover Street, Sittingbourne.

Now Holy Trinity, Milton Regis, is faced with the prospect of having to pay all the money back - most of which is tied up in a year-long bond.

Parochial church council member Keith Nevols said: "We sought legal advice about whether we could claim against the solicitor for the £6,000 we have spent, but The Church of England advised us that we must give the money back and that, as it was an honest mistake, we should go no further.

"All very Christian but it still puts us heavily out of pocket. Not only do we stand to lose £6,000 but the donation may have affected people giving donations over the last few months.

"The bottom line is that the church might go bankrupt because the money given each month doesn't match the outgoings.

"We were told by the end of the year we would be unable to pay the diocese's share. OK, bankruptcy may be a bit extreme but without the money we will be in great difficulty."

A joint statement issued by the Diocese of Canterbury and John Morley Solicitors said: "We recognise that the unfortunate circumstances in this matter have arisen through no one's deliberate fault.

"The Archdeacon of Maidstone, John Morley Solicitors and both parishes are working together to ensure a resolution of the problem that will give proper consideration to the best interests of both parishes and to effect an agreement by mutual consent.

"We are not expecting any further legal costs to be incurred."