A vicar is in fear of his life after he stood up to a rogue gang who charged him £12,000 for resurfacing the car park of a York church.

The Rev Chris Coates, who has been vicar of St Andrew's Church in Bishopthorpe, York, since October, has received death threats from a mystery gang he allowed to resurface the church car park.

He has even had to change the telephone number of the vicarage to stop them contacting him, and he says the threats are affecting his work.

Mr Coates said the workmen telephoned him last month and told him that their machine had been vandalised and they had a small amount of asphalt they needed to use up.

They offered to resurface a small area of uneven ground set aside for disabled parking for a small amount of money.

But when the vicar agreed, the gang brought more and more asphalt and ended up resurfacing the entire car park. They then asked him for £12,000 to pay for the job.

He said: "The police and trading standards said we shouldn't pay and then they started threatening me with my life and saying they would put all my windows in."

When the gang threatened to park their caravans in the car park until they were paid, Mr Coates and members of the church put up a fence to keep them out.

He said he had trusted the workmen because they described themselves as Highway Maintenance and told him they had been working for City of York Council on the city's Knavesmire.

But now he says he wishes he had been more careful about who he allowed to carry out the work.

Mr Coates, who is married with a 12-year-old daughter, said: "They did a dreadful job and they are nothing more than bullies and thieves. I had to make a stand against them."

He said that since the incident he had heard from other people in the Bishopthorpe area who have also been approached by road-surfacing gangs.

"The whole thing has been just awful and we are still worried about repercussions," he added.

Sgt Colin Ventress, of York Police, said this was a fairly common problem and the police were investigating the incident.

He said: "People should be very wary when approached by people offering services like this. They should always get a contract for the work beforehand, and if they really need a job doing they should call in reputable firms."

Updated: 11:20 Thursday, May 01, 2003