A scheme to protect rural churches has been extended after a spate of thefts in Derbyshire.
The police have recorded 14 crimes in the past few weeks, including the theft of tens of thousands of pounds of lead from churches near Ashbourne, according to the BBC.
The Church Watch scheme currently covers Bakewell, but will now be widened to cover Ashbourne and Matlock and other surrounding villages.
Rev Canon David Truby, from St Mary's Church in Wirksworth, said: "Some of that silver is 250 years old so it's a part of the town's heritage.
"We feel in some way as though the church has been desecrated."
People living near religious builings in the Church Watch area have been asked by the police to report anything suspicious.
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Article by Hannah Tooley
Hannah Tooley is a multimedia journalist for Premier.
