Wimbledon church charges tennis fans £20 a day to park on top of graves

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 14:42 EDT, 25 June 2009

Desperate tennis fans with nowhere to park for the Wimbledon tournament are paying £20 to leave their cars on graves in a nearby churchyard.  

St Mary's Church in Wimbledon Village is offering spectators parking spots on consecrated ground for £20 a day, directly above the remains of parishioners.  

The proceeds of the unofficial parking scheme go to charity but some residents are angry with the plan, describing it as 'disrespectful'. 

Disrespectful: A tennis fan wanting to park as close as possible to Wimbledon has paid St Mary's Church £20 for the day to park their BMW between to grave stones

In previous years cars have been restricted to the adjacent field.

One resident, Tim Brown, 38, said it was completely 'out of order'.

'The expression to feel like someone's walked over your grave - well imagine a 4x4 parked over your grave.  

'I think it's disrespectful to people who have family buried there. I noticed it the other day when I was walking past, about six or seven cars parked there.

'There's plenty of parking elsewhere for tennis-goers, Wimbledon make absolutely loads more parking available during the tennis.'

Walking all over: In previous years the church has had cars park only in an adjacent field, but with record crowds at Wimbledon, vehicles as big as a four-wheel drive spilled on to the graveyard

Mr Brown said people were simply too lazy to walk the extra five miles to the courts. 

'Graveyards and churches are just places where you have a bit of respect for the dead - and these people clearly don't have that,' he said.  

Reverend Mary Bide said that although the cars look 'odd', they were only parked in the oldest part of the graveyard and funds raised would make a 'valuable contribution to the Church and the Diocese'. 

Glorious: Record crowds flocked to Wimbledon for day four of action under clear blue skies and warm weather

Cooling off: Tennis fans relax by a pond to watch a second round singles match on the giant screen outside court number one at Wimbledon

But the church has since apologised for the car parking arrangement and has stopped the use of the churchyard.

'Over many years, during the Wimbledon Championships, the parish of St Mary Wimbledon has offered this service to the public,' a church spokesman said.

'Each year three designated charities benefit from some of the money raised by allowing the cars to park and the rest goes towards work within the parish.

'Sadly, this year, some cars were parked in inappropriate places.'

Dignitaries: Spectators sit quietly in the Royal Box on centre court to watch Australian Lleyton Hewitt take on Juan Martin Del Potro from Argentina

In contrast: A group of colourful Australian tennis fans cheer loudly for Hewitt

Finger on the pulse: Newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald dons a Panama hat for the Del Potro, Hewitt battle

Shady characters: Fans on centre court to watch Del Potro take on Hewitt brave the glare with sunglasses and an umbrella

True colours: Harry Lynch and his girlfriend Amy Hamilton from Southampton had their faces painted to show their support for Andy Murray

The holy row came as record crowds, buoyed by clear skies and warm temperatures, flocked to the All England Club for day four of action.

British interest in the women's singles was brought to an abrupt end when Elena Baltacha, the only British woman to get through to the second round, was knocked out by Kirsten Flipkens.

Despite the calibre of the world's best tennis players, the day was marred by further controversy when Murray's second-round opponent Ernests Gulbis accused him of bending the rules to his advantage.

Gearing up: Venus Williams (left) takes a breather during her winning game against Kateryna Bondarenko and British hopeful Andy Murray makes his way to the practice courts before his tea-time game on centre court

Having a ball: Apart from a few controversies, Andy Murray appears to be thoroughly enjoying his time at Wimbledon as he plays football with a tennis ball during practice today

Favourite: Murray's trainer kisses the shoe of the British number one ahead of his second round match against Latvian Ernests Gulbis

Murray mad: Queen Elizabeth congratulated Andy Murray on his Queen's win

The Latvian who is up against the British number one on Centre Court today, recalled a meeting at Queen's Club last year where he claims Murray took a medical 'time-out' for no other reason than to slow up the match.

Murray hit back saying he was 'one of the good guys'.

'I never once used any of the rules that certain players have used to try to gain an upper hand in a match or to slow my opponent down or anything,' the Scotsman said.

'I did have to withdraw from the next round the following day, so that's very disappointing to hear.'

But Murray should be confident he has the backing of Queen Elizabeth.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Queen sent the tennis star a message to congratulate him on winning the Queen's Club tournament earlier this month.

'The Queen sent a private message to Andy Murray congratulating him on becoming the first Briton to win the tournament at Queen's in 71 years,' the spokesman said.

He added that it was a private letter and he could not speculate on whether the Queen had encouraged Murray to do well at Wimbledon.