Do more to guard church buildings from crime, government told

The Countryside Alliance has called upon the federal government to commit to the protection of churches and other places of worship, after publishing a report showing the extent of crime targeting religious buildings.

Using Freedom of Information (FoI) requests sent to each British police force, the Countryside Alliance found that many areas experience lots of of crimes targeting churches every yr.

From 2022-2024, West Yorkshire was the worst hit area, suffering 1,121 crimes targeting religious buildings. The figure was nearly double the following highest figure, which was 655 crimes in Kent, followed by 642 in Greater Manchester.

Essex was also severely impacted, with 500 crimes affecting churches within the period.

To counter the issue, the Countryside Alliance has said the federal government’s Listed Places of Worship (LPW) Grant Scheme and the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme, which help churches pay repair and security costs, must be made everlasting.

Most of the crimes targeting churches involve theft or vandalism.

Speaking to the BBC, Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs on the Countryside Alliance, said, “If I take into consideration my parish church outside Saffron Walden in Ugley, it’s an exquisite church, however it is isolated.

“Lots of individuals, for a lot of years, have had concerns concerning the security of their local church, whether it’s anecdotal stories about lead being taken from the rooftops to donation tins being stolen.”

As well as government support, Metcalf-Fisher noted that a vigilant area people could do much to stop incidents of crime.

“We need any dog walkers, people out in the realm, just keeping track of their churches, and that piece of intelligence to police could go a great distance in protecting the longer term of those churches,” he said. 

One local church leader, Reverend David Ibiayo, of St Margaret’s Church, in Bowers Gifford, near Basildon, told the BBC that the local people had raised £10,000 via GoFundMe to repair the church after vandals broke in smashed up the church organ. The church, which is over 500 years old, has also had to put in CCTV.