URGENT work needed to stop a bowing wall eventually collapsing into a town centre road has been given the go ahead.

Part of a retaining wall which stops the cemetery in St Peter’s churchyard sliding into St Peter’s Road is bowing, and needs to be repaired urgently.

Parts of the church date from the 11th century, although it is not clear when the stone and brick retaining wall was built.

A report to Petersfield Town Council said: “The soil level within the churchyard is significantly higher than the road level. This is understood to have been caused by centuries of burials gradually increasing soil levels within the churchyard.”

It continued: “The works aren’t budgeted for, although the need is clearly urgent from a health and safety perspective.”

But reassuringly it added: “The ‘bow’ within the wall, whilst not appearing to be of immediate danger clearly needs to be rectified at the earliest opportunity.”

The churchyard has been closed for new burials since the 1860s, and its upkeep is now the responsibility of Petersfield Town Council.

The wall, with the Grade One listed church, is in the Petersfield Conservation Area, and so the repairs must replicate the original wall as closely as possible.

It has been agreed a three metre stretch of the wall, the bowed part, will be demolished and rebuilt with as much of the demolished material as can be reused.

Two plans were put forward for the work, one costing £11,700 plus VAT involved taking down five-and-half metres of wall, and rebuilding it with ‘weep holes’ to allow water to drain from behind it into the road gutter.

A section of the churchyard behind the wall would also be dug out, forming a trench between the wall and churchyard, which would be filled with shingle, again to help rain drain away.

The second plan, costing £2,530 plus VAT, involved taking down three metres of wall, and rebuilding it, disturbing as little of the churchyard behind it as possible, to avoid uncovering any burial remains.

The council has agreed to go ahead with the second quote which was from a contractor who regularly works on the church and knows the potential problems.