Marlborough is playing host to a throng of heavenly angels.

St Mary's Church, at the end of the High Street, has been adorned by more than 2,000 angels floating from the ceiling.

The angel templates were decorated by members of the community, including children from four local schools.

Pupils from Marlborough St Mary's, Preshute, Kennett Valley and St Francis in Pewsey all contributed to the display.

Organiser Helen Stokes says she has been utterly thrilled with the response:

"This started off as a project that people could easily do in lockdown," she said. "But the response has been amazing. We were hoping for as many as a thousand angels, but we stopped counting them after about 1,700 angels. We needed extra netting to put them up there were so many of them."

The Bishop of Ramsbury, Right Revd Dr Andrew Rumsey accompanied by Rev Chris Smith, Team Rector at St Mary’s opened the display, which will be running until January 4 between the hours of 1pm and 7pm.

The angels are based on a template of an angel from a stained glass window in the Lady's Chapel in St Mary’s.

"We sent out notes on our social media channels to get people involved," said Helen.

"We also had the Love Marlborough folk put the templates and some colouring in pens in with the free school meals being delivered.

“We have had a fantastic response from the community. People of all ages have enjoyed decorating the paper angels – from members of the Jubilee Centre right down to pre-school children. People are coming in and trying to spot their angel.

"The project has been a way of bringing the community together to experience Christmas in a way that we hope will be meaningful to everyone.”

The angels are lit up and the walk through the church follows a numbered route, which takes in the up lit pillars telling the Christmas story - culminating in the nativity scene. Helen and husband Vincent sorted the lights display with a £1,000 grant from the PCC.

"It means the vicar has some funky lights to play with now - so I'm sure he can put those to good use," she added.

The Bishop of Ramsbury, Right Revd Dr Andrew Rumsey, said, “This is a remarkable spectacle. Angels are part of the familiar cast. They are mysterious characters, messengers and intermediaries between heaven and earth. They bring good news of what’s to come.”