A priest has persuaded police not to charge two teenage boys who desecrated his Keighley church.

The two 13-year-olds were arrested over the attack at St Anne's Church in North Street in which they defecated on the altar and used pages ripped from the Bible as toilet paper.

But they have been released by police with a caution after Father Sean Gilligan intervened.

Father Gilligan said he hoped the boys will now learn from their actions and that he hoped to speak to them and their families about their wrongdoings.

"Now that they have been given a warning and the parents are aware of the situation hopefully they will learn," he said.

"They haven't been charged, really on compassionate grounds. As the saying goes, it's always worse when you don't know who did it than when you find out."

The church was attacked in October only weeks after Father Gilligan decided to leave it unlocked at all times. Since then he has decided to keep it locked all the time other than mass.

"People want some place to get away from the rat race and they want some peace and quiet. That's been taken away now - that's the sad situation," he said.

Sergeant Allan Gee, of Keighley police, confirmed that two 13-year-old boys were arrested in connection with the desecration of St Anne's church.

He said that both boys had been released without charge at the request of Father Gilligan.

The desecration, which sickened church members, was the third attack at St Anne's this year.

In February an armed intruder tried to steal the church's collection boxes and the church was one of six to be hit in a spate of New Year burglaries.