THESE photos taken from the the top of a village church show the state of the roof after heartless thieves stripped the lead off two roofs.

Church members who arrived at St Giles' Church, Bradford-on-Tone, yesterday morning (Thursday) were greeted by a scene of devastation after rainwater had flooded into the building.

The organ, which was undergoing £32,000 renovation work, was badly damaged and will now need to be completely repaired at a likely cost of over £100,000.

Members of the congregation spent yesterday mopping up after the water flooded through gaps in the roofs left by the thieves above the north and south aisles.

The thieves even used neighbours' wheelie bins to lug their ill-gotten haul to a waiting vehicle before driving off.

A £32,000 project to repair the church organ was due to be completed in a fortnight, but it will now be out of service for months.

It will need to be completely rebuilt, with the final cost possibly more than four times the original price.

Churchwarden June Best said: "We're devastated. It's heartbreaking.

"I can't believe anybody could do that. It's heartless.

"They're only interested in what they're taking and don't care about the damage they cause."

Mrs Best and a team of volunteers have rallied round to clear up the mess and loss adjusters were expected to inspect the damage yesterday afternoon.

Tarpaulins have been placed on the roofs of the north and south aisles where the thefts took place to keep any further rainwater out.

"Everything's absolutely saturated," said Mrs Best.

"The hymn books are all wet and other items such as the loop and speaker system are damaged as the electric unit is sitting in water.

"It's particularly upsetting because of the organ.

"The workmanship has been so outstanding. It was nearly finished.

"The refurbishment will have to be done again, but it also needs repairing - for example the bellows which had another 30 or 40 years' life will need replacing."

Equipment belonging to the team carrying out the organ work has also been damaged.

Church members have helped with the clean up operation, while locals and the pub owners have supplied warm drinks.

"We've had an absolutely wonderful band of helpers. Everybody's been really wonderful," added Mrs Best.

"There's going to be a massive bill, but we're expecting to maintain our Sunday morning services."

PC Joanne Jeffery has appealed for anyone with any information to call police on 101 giving the call handler the reference number 5220047607.

READ MORE: Lead thieves strip roofs of St Giles' Church, Bradford-on-Tone.