MORE than 100 churches across Wiltshire have reported lead thefts and other criminal activity, a new report has disclosed.

Since 2017, there have been 107 reported crimes in Wiltshire alone, says the Countryside Alliance rural campaign group, whose members are concerned that nothing is being done to raise awareness.

In recent weeks, several churches in Wiltshire have been targeted by lead thieves, including Malmesbury Abbey, Salisbury Cathedral, St James' Church in Devizes, St Andrew's Church in Melksham, St James the Great Church in Bratton, and Christ Church in Warminster, as well as The Rectory at Zeals.

The Countryside Alliance was told by Wiltshire Police there have been 16 recorded cases plus more than 28 general thefts in the past three years.

Wiltshire churches have been subject to 60 counts of criminal damage since 2017. In neighbouring Dorset, 229 total crimes were reported in the same time period.

Across the UK, 19, 493 crimes have been committed at churches and religious buildings, after 40 of 45 UK police forces responded to a Freedom of Information request.

The Countryside Alliance, which campaigns on rural issues, has compiled the data from across the country, into a report for its membership.

This includes 2,490 cases of violence, 4162 of criminal damage and 7,206 of thefts of which, 940 relate to lead theft. It works out at a rate of 19 crimes a day, nationwide.

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, of the Countryside Alliance, said “These figures paint a bleak picture of criminal attacks on our churches and religious buildings across the country as a whole.

"As a society, irrespective of faith or none, we need to be much more vigilant when it comes to watching over churches and places of worship by reporting suspicious activity.

"It serves as a reminder of the importance of funding and pushing for visible policing, particularly in rural areas where churches are more remote.”

Speaking to Premier Christian radio about the figures, which translate to a crime every 70 minutes, Becky Clark, The Church of England's director of churches and cathedrals, said: "While these things are undoubtedly very damaging, very harmful when they happen to individual communities, we're still looking at the majority of churches being safe places that are open to their communities.

"We're trying to work with the police on different initiatives to deal with some of the most widely presenting issues.

"However, fundamentally, churches are places where people should be able to come in all states, they should be able to come and feel safe. We want to make sure that those churches feel that they can stay open.

"This research includes churchyards, which are enormously important green spaces. In some communities, particularly in urban areas, they might be the only green and open space available to people.

"So it's going to be a natural place for people to come to for all sorts of things, mostly good, but occasionally bad."