THOUSANDS of pounds may have to be spent on a 125-year-old Howe Bridge Church to protect it from being vandalised.

Members of St Michael and All Angels Church on Leigh Road are at the end of their tether after the latest in a long line of vandal attacks on the church and vicarage.

In the latest incident - which will cost hundreds of pounds to repair - guttering and pipes were ripped from the wall, wires from the speaker system were pulled out, roof tiles were removed and a window and gate were damaged.

Now church members are considering spending thousands on protecting the building.

Church warden Madge Rhoden said: "We'll have to put a new fence up around the building, because vandals have pulled a lot of the old one down. And we want to put polycarbonate over all the windows to protect them.

"But because this is a Grade II star listed building we need permission from English Heritage before we can do anything. It is expensive to replace anything on this building because it's listed - we have to replace like for like."

The new fence would cost around £4,000 and the polycarbonate sheeting would cost around £17,000.

Within the past few weeks the church's best example of stained glass window was damaged and has had to be partially boarded up.

Curate Derek Simpson said: "This church is for the whole community and it's maintained by the voluntary contributions of its congregation. This situation is not helping us to help our local community. We are here for everybody."

Police are appealing for any information about the vandalism.