A CALL has been made for action to improve an historic churchyard.

Colchester councillor Darius Laws said he went to the churchyard of the Grade I listed Trinity Church in Colchester and was shocked to see see exposed electrical wires.

The Conservative councillor has laid the blame for the lack of maintenance at the door of the Lib Dem/Labour/Independent council administration.

He said: "We all know Colchester has an amazing historical collection.

"I found myself in the church, where the market is, because it is a wonderful facility.

"All the floodlights were hanging on the ground with open light fittings. They were all broken and quite severely damaged.”

The churchyard is the burial place of the 16th century scientist William Gilberd, who discovered electro-magnetism and was physician to Queen Elizabeth I.

Mr Laws added: “I want to know why this neglect has happened and what the council are going to do about it. It is clear that those light fittings have been broken for months.

"Low cost LED lights, lighting up iconic places like the Jumbo and the Roman Wall will allow the people of Colchester to enjoy Colchester. It’s the kind of things people expect.”

Parts of the church, which is the only Saxon building in the town centre, date back to the mid 11th century.

The church is now used as a café and youth art centre.

Annie Feltham, Colchester Council's portfolio holder for communities and leisure, said: “We are taking it seriously and when we find out what exactly is going on it will be deal with appropriately.

"Until we have got a proper assessment we can’t tell what immediate action we need to take. ”