WORK to repair a Cowling church badly damaged by lead thieves will begin early next year, thanks to a major grant.

Holy Trinity Parish Church, in Gill Lane, is receiving £77,700 from the Listed Places of Worship Repair Fund.

The money will be used to fix the church roof after a series of thefts in 2011 left it stripped bare of lead. Work will begin in February 2016, using materials with a very low scrap value.

Church warden, Brian Ridehalgh,said: “The roof has been patched up, but it is very difficult to stop rain water coming in.

"f we had not been able to secure funding,we could not have paid for the necessary work and the building would have continued to be at risk.”

New vicar, the Rev Helen Collings, said: “I am delighted we have received this funding. Our vision is to serve the community in Cowling, and making sure the church building is watertight is a very important step on the way.

"I’d like to thank Maurice Hatton, whose hard work was key to our receiving this funding.”

The church, which dates from 1845, had been the victim of lead thieves on six separate occasions in a year. Offenders targeted everything from the lightning conductor to lead on the steps from January to August 2011.

The church's vicar at the time, Canon Michael Cowgill, spoke out after the sixth incident, which took place on August 17, 2011.

“It is an insult and slight to the whole church community,” said Canon Cowgill. “Taking lead is a criminal offence, but these thieves keep coming back and taking more. They have no respect at all for anyone’s property, and not for a sacred building, which belongs to the community.”

The Rev Collings stressed the material used to make the repairs will have no value to metal thieves.

She said she expects the repairs to take about three to four weeks, adding they should involve minimal disruption for churchgoers.

"We've raised some of our own funds through concerts and other activities, but most of the money for these repairs will come from the grant," she said.

"Our congregation is a small one, and could not have raised this money by themselves.

"The patch-up job following the lead thefts has kept us going, but was never meant to be a long-term solution. Brian and his small band of volunteers have done very well to keep the water out. It's a beautiful church building, and it has been at risk."