A CHELMSFORD vicar fooled his congregation by eating a “tray of cat litter” to raise money for a toilet-building charity.

The rev Andy Griffiths, 45, ate what worshippers had been told was the contents of a cat litter tray at St Michael’s Church on Sunday during a fun-filled “toilet themed” service.

He had been urged to take on the challenge by curate Gemma Fraser.

Members of the congregation looked on in surprise as the vicar chomped away on objects which looked like raisins...

Mr Griffiths told the Weekly News afterwards: “I didn’t know for sure it was chocolate biscuits in novelty shapes, but I do trust Gemma, so I reckoned it would be OK!”

Members of the congregation donated money during the service, which also saw a performance from the St Michael’s Junior School choir, with Mr Griffiths’ stunt helping to raise £800.

Most of the money will be handed to toilettwinning.org – a charity which funds the building of latrines in countries such as Malawi, Congo and Afghanistan – and to the church’s own disabled access toilet. Work to build that and extra rooms started last week.

Mr Griffiths added: “Most of the money will go to providing relief, if you see what I mean, to African villages!”