Worshippers quit Abbey over feud

LONG-STANDING members of the Westminster Abbey congregation are boycotting services in the wake of the row over the Dean of Westminster's treatment of organist Dr Martin Neary, which has so far cost nearly pounds 400,000 in legal fees.

Among the regular worshippers who say they are staying away because they find the atmosphere unbearable is Dame Ruth Railton, whose father devised the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior as a memorial to the unclaimed dead of the First World War. Yesterday she said: "It's just a very, very great hurt and what I would call an un-Christian way of behaving". Others who no longer attend the Abbey say that the Dean, Dr Wesley Carr, should quit, following a series of rows which have kept the church in the headlines all year.

The feud between the Dean and Dr Neary began when the organist was sacked for alleged "financial irregularities". Supporters of Dr Neary have raised pounds 80,000 towards a fighting fund, while Westminster Abbey's legal costs are expected to run past the pounds 300,000 mark.

One long-standing member of the congregation commented: "All the money we have put in the collection plate over the years is now going on trying to dismiss Martin Neary. You can imagine how we feel."

Dr Neary is currently pursuing an appeal to the Queen. The hearing began on 11 September and is being conducted in private in Downing Street.

The Abbey is a Royal Peculiar and as such falls under the jurisdiction of the Queen. She takes a personal interest in its affairs, and in this capacity she donates two Christmas trees to the church each year.

Last week Dr Carr was again embroiled in controversy when he attempted to end more than 100 years of tradition and banish the trees, which he says are pagan symbols, from the Abbey. It was only then that he discovered that they were, in fact, a gift from the monarch, the head of the Church of England.

Dr Carr stoked up further anger at the Abbey earlier this year when his attempts at changing the way it is managed led him to dismiss several elderly volunteers, some of whom had spent years helping in the church. He also instigated a charge of pounds 5 for entrance to the church nave.

John Birch, 63, who has worshipped at the Abbey for the past 25 years, said: "There are various people who one doesn't see any more. Some people feel they want to be there to do what they can, but others are just so disgusted by what's happened that they go elsewhere."

Regular churchgoers have signed a petition to the Queen urging her to reinstate Dr Neary, who arranged the music for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Among the signatories are MPs and a number of high-profile figures, as well as staff, vergers, marshals and stewards at the Abbey.

But such is the atmosphere of intimidation that some staff have refused to sign, for fear of losing their jobs. "They support its sentiment but don't feel they can sign it in case the dean finds out," said one parent of an Abbey chorister. "The Abbey is almost Stalinist in its operation at present."