IT is believed 'brazen' thieves climbed over 50ft to steal thousands of pounds worth of lead from a church roof.

Andrew Horn, the warden for St Andrew's Church, in Ombersley, near Worcester, thinks the criminals threw the metal down onto a mattress below.

It was then piled into the church wheelie bins and dragged across a field to a vehicle, according to the warden.

The incident happened on Friday, March 31, and church officials alerted the police after noticing a few anomalies.

The 65-year-old church warden, of Holt Fleet Road, in Ombersley, said the theft was 'very brazen'.

"On Saturday morning our verger was doing his normal rounds around the church and noticed some wheelie bins had been moved," he added.

"A neighbour noticed the rubbish from the wheelie bins had been dumped in the field.

"It didn't quite seem right. Also a bit of filler between the lead flashing and the brickwork was down on the ground.

"I went up the tower to look at the roof and saw the lead had been taken."

The warden thinks that the thieves returned on Monday, April 3, as officials found that the lightning conductor had been pulled away from the church wall.

Mr Horn said most of the lead flashings had been taken off the roof, which provided water protection.

"What they have taken is not immediately a problem for the church. The gulleys in the roof are adequate," he said.

"But if we have a heavy rainstorm we will have a problem.

"I'm exploring the possibility of installing CCTV now. My concern is we think they came back on Monday.

"It's an ongoing thing. If we replace the lead we are still vulnerable."

The former GP added that the church is overlooked by houses which led him to believe that the theft happened overnight.

Anyone with information can call 101 quoting incident number 0430s of Saturday, April 1.