Gardeners described as “just like the characters from Last Of The Summer Wine” have decided to repair their community’s cemetery walls, saving their parish council about £20,000.

The seven men are all friends, aged from their late- 50s to mid-70s, and have plots at Yarm allotments in Worsall Road.

They became concerned at the dilapidated state of the neighbouring walls of Brickyard Cemetery.

“They were in a really bad state,” said Bob Wegg, an Independent councillor on Yarm Parish Council and chairman of Yarm Garden Association.

“The council had not provided any budget for repairs for years so we decided to get stuck in.

“We would all really like to thank Tolent, the contractor doing the health centre, who has given us free materials.

“One of the lads is a retired bricklayer so he’s been keeping us right.

“We’ve had people stopping to watch us work, including bricklayers and builders who say they can’t make money out of this kind of work any more, so it’s lucky we’ve been able to help.

"We’re all retired except one lad who is unemployed and just getting stuck in to help his community.”

Councillor Wegg, whose ancestors are buried in the cemetery, estimated the saving to Yarm Parish Council to be about £20,000.

He said the men had already repointed the wall nearest the allotments, which took eight days.

However, the second wall was a much bigger job involving major repairs and took three weeks of working five or six hours a day.

The men will now work on the cemetery supporting wall, which is expected to take even longer.

Local resident Carole Jones, a retired schoolteacher, spoke of her admiration for the men.

She said: “They’re really great guys. We were laughing and joking a bit, saying it’s a bit like the Last Of The Summer Wine. They even look a bit like the guys in the show, or at least that’s my joke about it. The whole community is really grateful to them.”

The men working on the walls include Sid Gill, Maurice Cook, Peter Rigglesworth, Trevor Mitchell, Alex Wilson and Derek Normington.