London - Badgers have dug up centuries-old graves and unearthed human remains in the grounds of a medieval church - with clergymen powerless to stop them because they are a protected species.
A human skull and the remains of a child have been found in a former burial ground at 13th century All Saints Church.
Several graves have been disturbed in what is now a peace garden which has been clawed up by the creatures at the church in Loughborough, Leicestershire.
The animals have disturbed graves in church grounds twice since May last year.
But under the Protection of Badgers Act anyone who kills one or destroys its home faces up to six months in prison or an unlimited fine. One local resident described how he discovered the remains of a child less than 30 yards from the entrance to a pre-school creche.
Jonathan Hayes, 49, found a child’s bones on a mound of earth around 8ft in diameter and three feet high, when walking past the churchyard last week.
‘You think badgers are nice - it’s wildlife and all that,’ he said. ‘But when you see bones, possibly of children, it starts making you feel sick.’
Bodies are no longer buried in the Peace Garden, which reportedly should have been cleared of human remains in the 1970s.
Charnwood Borough Council, which is responsible for maintaining the garden, said it is aware of the issue and is ‘aiming to resolve it in the near future’.
Leicestershire Police said All Saints Church is dealing with the matter.
Daily Mail