PARISHIONERS are battling against the odds to get building work back on track after vandals attacked their church.

A major programme of improvements at St James' Church, Darwen, was threatened when youths went on the rampage causing £1,500 worth of damage in May.

A bible was set on fire, bleach and ink was splashed around the altar and fire extinguishers were set off.

The incident happened in the same week that the Church Council discovered dry rot in the choir vestry would add an extra £10,000 to a plan to create a meeting room in the building. The £15,000 raised by parishioners for the new project, which included a bequest, was eventually boosted by Blackburn Diocese and TEAR Fund Urban Action.

Building work started this week but wreckers struck again on Sunday when they took a tin of paint from a skip and splashed walls, doors and gravestones causing around £100 worth of damage. Vicar, the Rev John Faraday, has praised the efforts of his congregation.

He said: "The dry rot could have cost thousands of pounds and prevented the other work, but a church member has paid the cost of materials, and two others are doing the work and have started to clear the paint damage.

"We are seeing a miracle at the church as God works through his people, not just in overcoming problems but also in going forward despite those problems and doing it joyfully."

The new community meeting room at the Winterton Road Church is due for completion within the next two months.

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