Stained glass windows smashed during church break-in

Church goers were left "shocked and appalled" after a listed church's stained glass windows were smashed days before Christmas.

The Reverend Canon Sue Field from St Mary the Virgin Church in Coleorton, Leicestershire, said bell ringers discovered the damage on 11 December.

She estimated it will cost them "into the thousands" of pounds to get the Victorian windows of the Grade II*-listed building repaired.

Ms Field said it was especially hard to deal with at this time of year "when you're trying to build up before a busy season" and "welcoming lots of people into the church".

"It's really difficult because we've tried to get the church secure, which we have, and obviously we've had to clean up the mess as well," she said.

Ms Field, who has been at the church near Coalville for two and a half years, said she was hoping to use the money they had to develop the church.

However, she said the windows would now have to be prioritised.

"We were hoping to do a lot of other things to develop the church," she added.

"But this will halt that because we need to repair the windows first."

Leicestershire Police said nothing was taken from the church during the break-in and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.