MONTHS of tension, angry emails and defaced notice boards at St Michael's Church has concluded following a grass cutting this week.

Dissatisfaction with the length of grass in the Tilehurst churchyard threatened to boil over at the end of June, with the church unable to secure suitable contractors to tidy the over grown plot.

Some of those who had paid for their deceased loved ones to be buried in the five acre site had expressed their anger about the grass, which reached shoulder height at certain points, by defacing notices and in strongly worded emails to St Michael's warden, John Morris.

“Notices from the board at the side of the churchyard have been ripped down,” said Mr Morris, who has been in the position for 18 months.

“Others had serious swear words on them, including the f-word, and some of the emails have been quite horrible.”

The dispute is said to have arisen from a misunderstanding between church officials and those who have bought plots, costing several thousand pounds, in the churchyard.

Around 90 per cent of burial costs go to the undertakers, meaning funding for maintenance is insufficient.

To add to the financial difficulty, St Michael's long-time grass cutter recently gave up the job, landing the church in the lengthy, red tape heavy process of securing a new contractor.

Dissatisfied with the slow pace of the process, families and friends of the deceased took it upon themselves to tidy the plot with petrol strimmers and lawn mowers on Thursday and Sunday last week.

On top of the community led effort, the church's newly secured contractors moved in on Monday to finish off the job.

“If I had loved ones who were buried in the church yard as it was I would be pretty upset,” admitted Mr Morris.

“It has been quite a fraught time, but I hope that we can now move on.”