Bereaved families involved in a row over the care of their loved ones' graves have given a petition of more than 1,000 names to church bosses.

The disagreement started after families whose relatives are buried in St Paul's Churchyard, Whitehall Road, Drighlington, were asked to remove gravel, chippings and edgings from graves by the beginning of last November or face having them removed.

People signed up to the petition against the request after the church applied formally to the diocesan registry - its legal department - for permission to remove anything from the graves which does not comply with regulations set out by the chancellor of the diocese.

Friends and relatives of those buried in St Paul's churchyard say the gravel and chippings keep the graves tidy and some say they were never made aware of the churchyard regulations.

Mick Barnes, whose daughter Adele died aged 18 in 2003 and who is buried in the churchyard, has presented the petition to the diocesan registry.

"We just want this to be settled once and for all," said Mr Barnes, 53, of Moorside Avenue. "The chippings make the graves look tidy.

"All we want is to make a nice resting place for our daughter and for everyone else whose loved ones are buried there."

A date has yet to be set for an initial hearing for the case but the diocesan registry said anyone who has formally objected will be kept informed.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Wakefield registry said: "We have received the petition which will be passed on to the chancellor for consideration in looking at the matter as a whole.

"Because there are a lot of names on there, each signature is not treated as a formal letter of objection.

"We have written to Mr Barnes to say that if anyone wanted to put in a formal objection they would have to write as an individual."