A PRIEST has condemned arsonists who targeted his church.

Father Anthony Barrett said he was shocked and bewildered after the fire at Sacred Heart and St Edward's RC Church in Blackburn Road, Darwen.

The blaze, in the early hours of Sunday morning, left an annexe of the church in ruins and caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

Fire crews were called 4am after a petrol bomb was thrown through a window into the sacristy -- the area where the priest prepares for Mass.

The attack is the latest in a long line of vandal attacks on churches in East Lancashire.

Last year, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph revealed there had been 227 attacks on churches in the county, with many churches forced to spend thousands of pounds on security.

Fr Barrett said his church had already been forced to cover all the windows with perspex to try to stop attacks by vandals. He added: "The really worrying thing is that these people came prepared to cause damage, they deliberately targeted the church. I just can't understand why anyone would do that."

He said that if the door from the sacristy to the main church had been left open, as it is in the summer, the whole building could have been destroyed.

Fr Barrett said: "I am still trying to come to terms with what has happened, it is such a shock. Although we managed to have a Mass of sorts on Sunday it was very short because of all the dust in the church from the fire."

Sacred Heart has had its share of problems in the past. Four years ago the then priest, Father Kevin Griffin, called on his congregation to act as "altar guards" after youngsters burst into confessionals.

Youths had been seen in the area carrying hammers and iron bars and there was evidence of solvent abuse in and around church grounds. Fr Griffin also said elderly people in the area had been verbally abused after asking youngsters to move on.

Other churches in Darwen have also suffered. St Peter's Church in Church Bank Street, has been forced to install CCTV cameras after repeated vandal attacks.

Area Dean the Rev Kevin Arkell said the church had been having "enormous problems" with juveniles.

Mr Arkell has been at St Peter's for six and a half years years and he said during that time they had faced constant problems with the church suffering thousands of pounds of damage.

Recently, five stained glass windows high up in the church building had all been smashed.

Mr Arkell said he felt with the level of attacks being so great there was no other option but to install CCTV. The church is one of the first in Lancashire to do so.

St James Church in Winterton Road has had a spate of problems with yobs and now floodlights the premises with a brightly lit cross to try to deter intruders.

And two weeks ago the United Reformed Church on Chapels suffered a break-in which was blamed on children.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire Service said they had been called to Sacred Heart and St Edward's on Sunday morning and that the fire was being treated as suspicious.

A police spokesman also confirmed they were investigating.

Anyone with information should call the Crimestoppers arson hotline, free and in confidence, on 0800 555 111.