Vigilance warning to churches in West Norfolk after latest attempted lead theft

A priest has warned other churches in the West Norfolk area to be vigilant after an attempted lead theft last week.

Rev Ken Waters, priest in charge at St George’s Church in Methwold, said thieves had targeted the church in the early hours of Tuesday.

He said, in a post on a Methwold Facebook page: “Thank goodness we have an alarm system, which was triggered at 2.30am this morning. The police were there within 10 minutes.

“The thieves got away. They managed to strip some lead off the roof but didn’t have time to load it on their truck.

“There is damage to the roof, but it could have been a lot worse had we not had the alarm fitted.”

The attempted lead theft comes after a recent spate of lead thefts at churches in our area, including St George’s Church at Gooderstone and St Edmund’s Parish Church in Downham.

Rev Waters added: “This is the fourth church in our area to be targeted. Please be vigilant if you live around a church.”

Police, who are investigating the attempted lead theft, said they arrived on scene to find that suspects had accessed the roof and started to remove lead but had left prior to officers arriving.

Anyone with information should contact PC Chris Lyng at Downham Police Station on 101 quoting crime reference 36/11929/20.