'Fury' over Scrooge's gravestone being smashed

People in Shrewsbury have said they are "furious", after the "disgraceful" smashing of a gravestone for Ebenezer Scrooge.

The inscribed stone, used as a prop in a 1984 film adaptation of A Christmas Carol, has lain in the graveyard next to St Chad’s Church in the town for four decades.

Town council clerk Helen Ball has said staff would assess whether it might be possible to repair the broken gravestone.

"I'm just really furious, because why would they do it when people go there to see it?," resident Christine told BBC Radio Shropshire.

Nigel Hinton, a town guide, was planning Christmas Carol tours this December to coincide with the 40th birthday of the film based on the Charles Dickens classic.

He said the stone's condition had "attracted even more attention".

"It's very upsetting," said Mr Hinton about the damage.

"It's a very iconic piece of prop left over from a film, which had a major impact on Shrewsbury's tourism I think.

"People have been going along sympathising and really having a look at it."

He pointed out it was formerly a gravestone that was "unreadable".

Martin Wood, who hosts Christmas Carol tours around Shrewsbury and appeared in the film 40 years ago, said "we believe it was actually a gravestone for somebody else".

He added: "The film company had to do a lot of research to sort of try and discover who was underneath it before they got permission... to actually use it and put Ebenezer's name on the top of it.

"So, yeah, I mean it's been there for donkeys years."

In terms of its broken state, Mr Wood said: "When I saw the photographs, I thought 'why?'

"What pleasure do they actually get from doing something like this?"

Christine felt a tradition had been lost.

"It's a tradition, an old tradition and they've ruined it."

"My grandkids love going ..honestly, but they've ruined it."

And resident Linda said: "For people of our age to be able to tell your grandchildren about it, [it's] a special thing, isn't it?

She added residents had "grown up" with the film.

The movie was mainly filmed in the Shropshire town.

The gravestone is seen when Scrooge is confronted by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and he wipes away snow to reveal his own name.

One man said of the damage: "That's terrible... [it's] a local landmark and it's much loved around here."

Another woman said it was "vandalism to the extreme".

"What was the point in it? I don't know, absolutely disgraceful," she said.

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