A huge crane was drafted in today to carry out emergency repair work to the roof of Shrewsbury’s landmark St Chad’s Church.

A major structural survey will also be carried out to determine whether any further work is required to maintain the lead roof of the 200-year-old church after fears were raised about its condition.

Adrian Richards, chairman of the fabric committee at St Chad’s, said part of the tower of the church posed a major health and safety risk and needed urgent repairs.

He said: “On the tower of the church there are some big triangular panels and towards the bottom of that there are some big lead panels and two of those are partly torn away.

“It is either because of the copper nails that secure it or the timber underneath it is rotted and we have got to do emergency repairs because it’s dangerous.

“While we are doing it though we are going to do a thorough investigation of the tower to see how much decay or rot there may be up there and see what work needs to be done.”

Mr Richards said a team of lead workers, joiners and architects would be involved in the process.

He said the crane could fit three men and one-and-a-half tonnes of repair material at any one time.

The church official said the committee had chosen to use the crane because it was only a third of the cost of using scaffolding.