A church in Kent is receiving urgent funding to stop flint from falling off its roof.

Pieces of debris which weigh up to one kilo are proving hazardous at St John the Baptist Church in Sutton-at-Hone near Dartford. The 14th century church is also suffering from broken gutters and water damage.

It has been awarded a £13,000 grant from the National Churches Trust to fund the urgent repairs. It will receive a further £10,000 from the Wolfson Foundation.

Rev Emma Young, vicar at St John's, told the BBC: "Making the site safe again through repairs to masonry is a vital first step and restoring the church to good condition will, in turn, enable us to extend the church's ministry in the local community of which St John's has been a part for nearly 700 years."

The church features an early 17th century pulpit and also holds the graves of the first governor of the East India Company Thomas Smythe and Abraham Hill, who was a founding member of the Royal Society.