Lincoln Cathedral plans railings to stop rough sleepers in porch

A cathedral wants to install railings to prevent an historic porch from being used by rough sleepers.

Lincoln Cathedral said the 13th Century Galilee porch had been left an "unhygienic mess" for several years.

It also said vandalism by the groups had damaged the building's masonry.

The cathedral's dean, the Very Rev Christine Wilson, said it was to protect people and the building, adding that after an earlier fire, the church did not want "another Notre Dame."

An application to install 4.5 ft (1.4m) fencing along the pavement across the porch has been made to the city council.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, in its application, the cathedral said the railings would be similar in design to those already installed around the North Green.

"The porch conceals an area to the side of the south west transept and this is frequently used by rough sleepers who often leave the area in a very poor state and can be threatening in their behaviour," the report said.

The cathedral added it was "mindful" of homelessness issues, but did not "believe that allowing people to sleep in this area of the cathedral was appropriate and it needs to be discouraged".

Temporary barriers have previously been installed to try to prevent the porch being used by rough sleepers after a number of incidents, including fires.

Dean Wilson said the church was trying to keep people safe from harm.

"We do actually provide an enormous amount of support to homeless people and there are other places they can sleep and do sleep," she said.

She added: "As far as the actual porch is concerned, there was a fire in there last year and obviously we have to think about the protection of the building.

"It's a heritage building and we don't want another Notre Dame situation."

No date has been set for the city council to consider the application.

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].