A Limassol priest accused of abusing his privilege of ringing the church bells is to be brought before court to face charges, it was reported on Wednesday.

Father Giorgos of Platanistasa had allegedly resorted to ringing the church bells for extended periods of time and amplifying their sound with a loudspeaker in order to exact revenge on the community leader, Savvas Savvides.

Additionally, he allegedly was carrying out early morning services so loudly that they could be heard as far as the adjacent village, according to local reports.

At the heart of the dispute was a decision by the incoming council to dismiss the priest’s wife from her role as secretary, which she had held for 24 years.

The situation escalated between July and September last year in the wake of the island-wide local authority restructure when, as a result, the village found itself part of a larger municipal complex.

According to Savvides, the priest’s wife could no longer be paid through community council funds and needed to reapply for her position to the Madari-Papoutsa complex, which precipitated the priest’s cantankerous behaviour.

The situation did not get resolved despite mediation efforts by another cleric, and some residents, including the community leader, took the matter up with the police, as well as with the Bishop of Morphou and the deputy minister of culture.

The priest fended off their complaints, according to reports, denying that the prolonged bellringing was deliberate and stating that residents who were housebound or sick would benefit from hearing the liturgy broadcast throughout the village.

Those who opposed this view took to recording the bellringing episodes – some allegedly lasting up to four minutes – and delivered a USB with the audio evidence to the police.

The priest currently faces up to 20 potential charges, including for noise pollution, public nuisance, and using a loudspeaker without a permit, as well as complaints for holding services at erratic times and not properly managing access to the Unesco-protected Stavrou tou Agiasmati church.