FARNHAM vicar Reverend Simon Reynolds, rector of St Andrew’s Church, is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court accused of misappropriating wedding and funeral fees while priest-in-charge of All Saints Church in Darton, South Yorkshire.

Mr Reynolds, of Upper Church Lane, Farnham, denies four counts of theft, estimated to amount to £24,000. The first three relate to fees that should have been sent to the Wakefield Diocesan Board of Finance, for marriages, funeral and churchyard monuments respectively. The fourth count relates to fees for monuments that should have gone to the parochial church council.

The allegations he had pocketed thousands of pounds between March 2007 and March 2013, were made just before Mr Reynolds took up his position in Farnham. He voluntarily stepped down from his role as rector of St Andrew’s but was suspended immediately afterwards.

The trial opened last Thursday.

Following Mr Reynolds’ suspension in 2013, a spokesman for the Diocese of Guildford said: “The suspension is a neutral act and does not presuppose any conclusion about the allegations. We are not able to comment any further while the legal proceedings are ongoing.”