PARISHIONERS have hit the ground running in their bid to raise £200,000 to prevent two Ribble Valley churches from crumbling.

The Faith and Heritage Appeal is being run by Father John Francis at St Wilfrid's RC Church, Ribchester.

That church needs repairs to stop water seeping through the walls and roof, while the parish's other church, St Saviour, in nearby Stydd, needs urgent repairs to stop it from collapsing.

English Heritage has already offered money to support the restoration of the Norman churches, but parishioners need to raise £200,000 by Christmas to ensure they get that donation.

Money raised so far includes £6,000 from the insurers of St Wilfrid's, who have given the money to compensate for ancient stone heads stolen from the church grounds last year.

Lent lunches raised £85, while £450 was donated from a wedding.

Other events were in the pipeline, the priest said.

But he warned: "£200,000 is a lot of money to raise in a relatively short space of time.