Former Canon Lionel Webber has admitted misleading the builders of Basildon's belltower with nearly £2m in bounced cheques.

And he has told a court hearing into his tangled financial affairs that he now regrets ever having joined the church.

Mr Webber, at the centre of a police inquiry and a legal row over a £500,000 unpaid bill for the building of the 95ft glass tower, said he wished he could turn the clock back.

Speaking at an oral examination held yesterday (Monday) at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, he said he had been stupid and naive but denied pocketing money earmarked for the project.

In total, St Martin's Parochial Church (PCC) owes nearly £1m, including interest.

Webber insisted he had never knowingly misled contractors John Mowlem over the last three years. However, the firm's solicitor, Tony Kearney, fired back: "But you wrote cheques that misled us?" Mr Webber replied: "Yes, I agree."

Mowlem's will use the evidence gleaned from the hearing to try to raise the cash in partnership with the remaining members of the PCC.

The firm has refused to rule out pulling the belltower down.

For more on this story see today's Evening Echo

Misled firm -Lionel Webber outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London

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