Church crime figures prompt security funding call

St Margaret's Church in Bowers Gifford sustained damage totalling £15,000 last year

A campaign group has called for continued security funding for churches after figures revealed the number of crimes affecting places of worship.

Essex was in the top 10 worst-affected policing areas in the UK with 500 reported crimes at churches during 2022, 2023 and 2024, according to figures obtained by the Countryside Alliance.

The alliance called for existing government schemes providing support with repair and security costs, including the Listed Places of Worship (LPW) Grant Scheme and the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme, to be made permanent.

The Home Office and Essex Police have been contacted for comment.

The Countryside Alliance obtained the figures via Freedom of Information requests to every local police force in the UK.

When it published its church crime report, the Essex figures were not available, but have since been released.

During the three years in question, Essex Police revealed 213 reported thefts, 159 reported cases of criminal damage, and 128 reported cases of violence at churches.

These included two cases of lead being stripped from church roofs.

West Yorkshire was the most severely affected with 1,121 recorded crimes, followed by Kent (655) and Greater Manchester (642).

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs at the organisation, told BBC Essex: "If I think about my parish church outside Saffron Walden in Ugley, it's a beautiful church, but it is isolated.

"Lots of people, for a number of years, have had concerns about the security of their local church, whether it's anecdotal stories about lead being taken from the rooftops to donation tins being stolen."

He said community awareness could also play a huge part in prevention.

"We need any dog walkers, people out in the area, just keeping an eye on their churches, and that piece of intelligence to police could go a long way in protecting the future of those churches," he said.

Reverand David Ibiayo said his church has brought in CCTV after a break in last year

The Reverend David Ibiayo said he was "pained" when vandals broke in and damaged St Margaret's Church in Bowers Gifford, near Basildon, last year, causing damage estimated at £15,000.

He said "luckily" passers by heard a noise and reported it.

"We were thinking 'We're a small church, how are we going to survive?', but we had a GoFundMe page and the local community raised £10,000 for us," he said.

"So, yes, we're pained by the news, but it just goes to show the beauty of the local community."

The Grade II-listed Anglican church, which dates back to 1450, used its funds to install CCTV.