Teenager who has tended war memorial in his village for 12 years is accused by council of criminal damage after he installed a pipe to water the plants

Kurtis Green has tended to the Dersingham memorial since he was seven

He was questioned by police for two hours after installing the water pipe

Accused: Kurtis Green was reported to the police after connecting a water supply to a war memorial in Dersingham, Norfolk, without permission

For 12 years, Kurtis Green has diligently tended the war memorial in his village, cleaning up rubbish and planting bulbs at its base.

In January, the Queen congratulated the 19-year-old for his hard work revamping the memorial, near her Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

But officials at Dersingham Parish Council have taken a rather different view and reported him to the police for his unpaid work – which they have labelled criminal damage.

Mr Green, whose grandfather fought in the Second World War, was quizzed for two hours at a police station after he added a pipe to water the flowers without permission.

The volunteer was just seven when he started tending the garden around the memorial opposite his parents’ fish and chip shop.



He saved up his pocket money to buy gardening tools, and over the past decade he has spent hundreds of hours working on his pride and joy.

When he was 15, he persuaded councillors to spend £20,000 on restoring the area with raised flower beds, new railings, seating and block paving.

Mr Green worked tirelessly to help with the project and won a Young People of the Year award after he was praised by villagers.

His efforts were then recognised by the Queen in a letter after the local Royal British Legion won a prize for having Norfolk’s most improved war memorial.

But Mr Green got into trouble in February when he connected a new water supply so the flower beds could be safely watered.

He and fellow villager John Houston, 65, assumed they were authorised to do the work because the pipes for the water supply had already been placed in the ground as part of the restoration project.

But Dersingham Parish Council complained to the police that they had done the work without its permission and accused them of criminal damage and theft.

After: The police now say that Mr Green will not face prosecution. The decision follows a public outcry about his treatment. He tended the memorial opposite his parents' fish and chip shop for free

Before: How the memorial looked before the teenager spent his spare time looking after it

Mr Green, who works as a chef at a care home, said: ‘It is just so pathetic.

‘All we have been trying to do is help the community and we are being treated as if we are criminals.

‘We were accused of causing criminal damage by digging up earth to see if the existing pipe was OK, but we left the area just as we found it.

‘I can’t understand what the theft is supposed to have been.

‘All the soil we dug up was replaced in the ground and the only thing we took away was the dirt under our fingernails.

Hard work: Mr Green (pictured hiding in shrubbery with other volunteers) devoted hours to improving the overgrown area around the war memorial

‘The policewoman was trying to trap us. She kept asking us the same questions in different ways.’

Mr Green started working on the site as a boy because it was full of weeds and rubbish and ‘not in a fit state’ to honour those who had fought for the country.

He said: ‘In those days, it was a complete disgrace. I just decided to do something to help.’

Mr Green, who had been forced by the parish council to take out his own insurance for work on the site, added: ‘The trench we dug was marked with cones and it was all filled in the same day. We replaced the turf as best we could and put down new grass seed.

Pride: The monument commemorates all of those who died in the First World War

‘It actually looked better than when we started. But while we were doing it, a councillor came along and took pictures of us on his mobile phone. The next thing we knew, we were reported to the police by the council.

‘Loads of people in the village are supportive of us.’

Tony Bubb, a Liberal Democrat district councillor, resigned as chairman of the parish council on Monday, but said his decision had nothing to do with the dispute.



Parish council clerk Sarah Bristow said she could not comment as the issue was being investigated by the police, but added: ‘The parish council did not give anyone permission to do anything.’

A spokesman for Norfolk police said: ‘The circumstances are now being considered by the Crown Prosecution Service. Police are aware of Kurtis’s efforts in cleaning up the memorial and we will work with all concerned to try to reach an acceptable resolution.’

Mr Green’s mother, Sandra, 61, said: ‘All he is trying to do is some good. He’s got a heart of gold.’