Repair work starts on Scrooge's smashed gravestone

The stone was smashed into multiple pieces

Repair works on a gravestone for Ebenezer Scrooge are under way after it was smashed by vandals at the weekend.

The inscribed stone, used as a prop in the 1984 movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol, has lain in the graveyard next to St Chad’s Church, Shrewsbury, since the film was released 40 years ago.

Town council clerk Helen Ball said it had been a "complex" process to gain the "necessary permissions" for the repairs to take place, but thanked the Diocese of Lichfield for "fast-tracking" the faculty required for the work to begin.

Ms Ball added she is hopeful it will be "all sorted by the end of the week".

• Fictional Scrooge and his real churchyard grave

The two largest pieces of the stone remain in the graveyard, but the smaller fragments have been removed by town council staff to ensure "pieces of the jigsaw" are not lost.

Ms Ball said a stonemason will now "stick it all back together".

Once the gravestone has been repaired it will be embedded into the ground so it can be preserved.

The town has been "overwhelmed" and "humbled" by the support not only locally, but from around the world, Ms Ball added.

She said numerous people contacted the town council offering financial support to help repair the damage.

The son of the film's producer also got in touch to say how proud his late father was that the stone had remained in St Chad's and how saddened he would have been to hear of the damage.

Ms Ball said there was "light at the end of the tunnel" now that repair work is starting.

She said the media attention of the last few days meant they were expecting more people wanting to see the gravestone once it is repaired.