A couple have lost a fight to build a special churchyard memorial to their son after their plans for a Bart Simpson statue were turned down.

Tony and Alison Spalding, from Cedar Drive, Sutton-at-Hone, hoped to place a headstone in St John’s Baptist Church, Sutton-at-Hone, in memory of son Charlie Morettes, who collapsed while playing rounders at Sutton-at-Hone Primary School in May last year. Charlie was just eight when he died.

But the plans were called into question by Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley Parish Council, because the couple’s proposed memorial included a 21-inch granite model of Bart Simpson, one of Charlie’s favourite characters.

The plans were turned down at a meeting on Thursday by four councillor votes to three.