'Heart-warming' response to church roof lead theft

Jane Drewe was opening up St Andrews Church when she noticed the lead had been stripped from the roof of its porch

A warden has said "heart-warming" offers of help after lead was stolen from a church show there is "still a lot of goodwill out there".

Jane Drewe was opening up St Andrew's Church in East Hagbourne, Oxfordshire, on Saturday morning when she noticed the lead had been stripped from its porch roof.

She was inundated with help after posting on Facebook, with local roofer Michael Harris fixing the damage for free the following morning.

"I know there are horrible people that go nicking things from public places," Ms Drewe said. "But for every one of those there must be a thousand good people in the country."

Local roofer Michael Harris fixed the damage for free

She described St Andrew's Church as a "very historic beautiful building", but said it relied on an "army of a volunteers" to keep it running.

When she posted about the damage she said she was "completely amazed by how many people responded positively".

Ms Drewe said the porch was vulnerable to leaks after the lead was stolen, so Mr Harris carried out a temporary fix to make it watertight.

She added: "It was good to hear those good people coming forward... because you only hear the bad stories don't you?"

Mr Harris, from Kidlington, got in touch with the church after seeing the Facebook post. He said: "I turned up, and it only took a couple of hours.

"It had to be done. It's a community thing really. It's not my local church, but still, it's not acceptable.

"I wanted to do it for free. I thought it might have sped things up if it was free, saving the bureaucracy of quotes and to-ing and fro-ing.

"I thought make it simple, just go for it, and get it done."

Mr Harris also said he would be "happy to help with anything else" if the church called on him.

St Andrew's was built in the 12th Century, with the current tower dating to the mid-15th Century, and its original bell is still in daily use.

Its parish includes the villages of East Hagbourne, West Hagbourne and the hamlet of Coscote.