Bucknell church is fired up for new £60,000 heating system

However, instead of taking oil out of the ground, the workers will instead be withdrawing heat.

They are installing a £60,000 ground source heat pump system which takes warmth from under the ground and puts it inside the church's radiators and hot water system.

The project has been three years in the planning and church wardens hope it will lead to big cuts in the building's energy bills.

St Mary's warden Ian Hay-Campbell said: "The ground source heat pump is a kind of heat exchange system. Water passes through the boreholes and comes back to the church at around blood temperature and goes through the radiators and heating equipment.

"It comes in warm and so does not require much heating and so cuts the amount of energy used."

The ground stays at a fairly constant temperature under the surface, so the heat pump can be used throughout the year, and even in the middle of winter.

Mr Hay-Campbell said work on drilling the boreholes and installing the pump was expected to be finished in about 10 days. It comes on top of a thorough programme of insulation work in the church, particularly in the ceiling.

The idea of using a green energy source to heat St Mary's came about in 2010 and a number of public meetings were held about the project.

Mr Hay-Campbell said the church received a £27,000 grant towards the cost of both the pump and the insulation from the Lottery Fund and donations from charities and organisations, including Biffa Waste which gave £10,000. He said the church raised the rest.

Anni Holden, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Hereford, said: "There were meetings about the project with the local community and it went through the planning system and gained permission pretty straightforwardly.

"The heat pump is in the churchyard but the drilling will cause no disturbance at all to graves."

The church is also having a kitchenette and toilets installed so it can be used by more local groups.