A CLERGYMAN whose church has been vandalised says police are not doing enough to fight crime in his area.

And Pastor John Bryce has also spoken out against fortnightly rubbish collections.

Vandals have sprayed graffiti, smashed windows and even pulled a sewage pipe off the disabled toilet at Primrose Hill Baptist Church.

Pastor Bryce said: “We don’t have village bobbies any more, people who would know who the troublemakers are.”

And he is worried that the forthcoming switch from weekly to fortnightly bin collections will make matters worse.

The Cross Lane church hosts an Age Concern dinner club for about 30 people every Wednesday.

The leftovers are put in bin bags which are now collected the following day.

Pastor Bryce said: “Our church members take the recyclable rubbish home to their own green bins.

“But we still have to dispose of the leftovers. We need to keep our weekly collection or the bags will be thrown round the street,” he added.

And the minister believes Kirklees Council was wrong to suggest a wheeled bin for the church.

Pastor Bryce said: “A bin would be stolen within 24 hours if it was left outside.

“The council have suggested we could keep the bin in the church, but that would mean having rotting food in there for nearly two weeks.

“Would the council suggest that people keep their bins in their homes for a fortnight? I can’t imagine the smell.”

Pastor Bryce said his church had been targeted by vandals. He said: “The fence has been torn down, windows smashed and graffiti is a constant problem.

“A sewage pipe from the disabled toilet was ripped off and I recently saw a teenager standing on our steps and urinating in full view of everyone.

“I think we’re targeted because they know that church people won’t get violent towards them.”

A Kirklees spokesman said: “Properties in the same street as the church have had wheeled bins for some time and there is no reason why the church should not have them.

“We are not aware of high incidences of vandalism involving wheeled bins in the area and we have spoken to Pastor Bryce about this.”