A WEST Devon vicar has slammed the borough council, claiming it misleads the public about the way in which it spends its money. The Rev Ian Sykes, Rector of Brentor, was annoyed to see a picture of the church of St Michael de Rupe at Brentor on the front cover of a leaflet sent to council tax payers by West Devon Borough Council. The leaflet accompanied council tax demands for the coming year and was headed, ?How we spend your money in West Devon 2006/07?. The pictures on the front cover show the fire service, police, Dartmoor National Park and a council worker ? and the famous church at Brentor. Mr Sykes said: ?The implication is that Brentor Church is part of West Devon Borough Council?s services and it is not. ?I have written to the chief executive of the council and I have said I was somewhat disturbed, I think the information is very misleading, I don?t like it, I think it is unfair to us and the general West Devon council tax payers.? Mr Sykes said the upkeep of St Michael?s Church was purely the responsibility of the parish. He said the church was in a unique position in that it had no gas, electricity or water supply and there were no bills for grass cutting, as that was taken care of by the sheep who graze the tor. The tiny church also received generous donations from the many visitors it received throughout the year, but there were still ongoing maintenance costs to be taken care of. ?There are other hidden costs as well, but primarily the responsibility for the building lies with the parish and West Devon doesn?t give us anything ? and we do not expect them to give us anything,? said Mr Sykes. A spokeswoman for West Devon Borough Council said: ?The church is a famous monument and well known landmark to residents and visitors alike. The photo is a snapshot of the beauty and rural nature of the borough and gives a flavour of the borough?s tourism, a service in which West Devon invests because it brings in so much money to our local economy.? The council ran the toilets at Brentor car park and maintained the car park itself ? it had also given the church authorities a grant in 1996 after the church had been struck by lightning and attacked by vandals. The spokeswoman said the council had used the picture of St Michael?s in its leaflets for three years and had never received any complaints about it before.
