Holme Wood vicar's sadness at church roof raids (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Holme Wood vicar's sadness at church roof raids

11:00am Thursday 26th April 2012 in Otley By Steve Wright, Crime Reporter

A vicar has told of his sadness after lead thieves caused £5,000 damage to his church.

And the Reverend Steve Davie revealed that the raiders will have made little profit from their ill-gotten gains, because there is so little lead left after previous thefts.

The theft and damage at St Christopher’s Church, in Holme Wood, Bradford, was discovered at 7.30am yesterday.

Mr Davie said: “We arrived to open up for our day centre and noticed there was a mess in the car park.

“We looked up and realised someone had been in the gully on the roof and had stolen some lead. In fact, there is hardly any lead up there. Lots of it has been stolen before and has been replaced with stuff which isn’t lead, which is what is happening at a lot of churches.

“It will cost about £5,000 to repair the damage, and I doubt whether the insurance company will pay for it. Someone has been up there and in five minutes caused that damage.

“I think it’s very sad that someone thinks they can earn a few bob – and it won’t be more – by causing all this damage. I can’t see the point. The local people who come to our church will probably end up paying for it, though they haven’t enough money to live on, let alone pay for our repairs. But we will do it somehow because we have to.”

Mr Davie added: “I have only been in Bradford since March and I have never come across such a hardworking community. Most people would think it’s absolutely awful that someone has done this.”

West Yorkshire Police said they were called to reports of the theft of a number of drain covers at the church. Tong and Wyke Neighbourhood Policing Team Sergeant Brian Watson said: “The theft of metal remains a priority for the police up and down the country and we are fully aware of the visual and financial affect such offences can have on the community.

“The damage caused by the removal of metal often extends into thousands of pounds and can be hard to recover from. I would call on anyone who has information about this latest incident at St Christopher’s Church to come forward and help us in our investigations.”

Witnesses are asked to contact police on the non-emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.