Scaffolding stolen from south Shropshire church

Thieves dismantled scaffolding, planks and ladders at a south Shropshire church in a raid thought to have lasted hours. Police today said residents may have assumed the criminals were genuine workmen.

The thieves targeted St Peter's Church in Stanton Lacy, near Ludlow, at the weekend.

Philip Keene, who has been a churchwarden at St Peter's for more than 20 years, said: "It's a bad sign of the times that nothing seems safe from thieves."

"We had been having work done on the roof as the gales about a month ago had blown the weathercock down and smashed down on the tiles, making a hole.

"This has been a bit of a shock for all of us, as the whole scaffolding was completely stripped down and absolutely everything was taken by the time the workmen arrived back on Monday morning.

"They will have to put all the scaffolding back up which will delay the work by a few days. We just hope their insurance covers them for the loss."

Constable Antony Baker, investigating officer, urged any witnesses who saw suspicious activity around the scaffolding between 9.30pm last Friday and 8am on Monday to come forward.

He said: "It took two men two days to put up, so the thieves would have been at work for some considerable time. Local residents or visitors to the village may well have seen this theft happening without realising a crime was taking place."

Call Ludlow police on 0300 333 3000 or Crime-stoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.