The bells were given to the estate agents to brighten the place up

The bells - which are about 12 inches high - were taken from their display cases in Edvin Loach Church, near Bromyard, in December 1997.

One of the bells was spotted by a bell ringer through the window of D.K. Estate Agents, in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

Anni Holden, director of communications for the Church of England's Diocese of Hereford, said the bells had been loaned to the estate agents by the owner of the building, a local scrap metal dealer.

we were advised that they had probably been stolen to order and exported or worse still, melted down. Allan Wyatt, church secretary

Stressing that the scrap merchant was completely unaware of the bells' history, Ms Holden said: "He gave them to the estate agents to brighten the place up and a passing bell-ringer spotted that they were medieval."

Pictures of the bells were then posted on a bell historians' website where they were recognised by an expert who contacted church officials.

"It's an amazing story," said Allan Wyatt, Edvin Loach Church secretary, who went to identify the bells.

"We were discussing the problem of how to secure them at the time they were stolen, but as time went on and despite the publicity, we were advised that they had probably been stolen to order and exported or worse still, melted down."

The bells were two of three stolen six years ago and the third bell is still missing.