THIEVES almost stripped a chapel roof of slate - but were disturbed before they managed to get away.

Just days before, the owner of a house in Hawksworth returned to find men with a pickaxe loading his patio on to a van parked in his driveway. He blocked the van and the two men ran off towards Baildon Moor.

Now, police at Weetwood are urging anyone who sees people removing stone from patios or rooves to report them - even if they look completely legitimate.

Peter Krushniak, the neighbourhood watch liaison officer at Weetwood, said: "The trouble is these people usually look quite bona fide, but we would urge people to report them anyway so we can check them out."

Mr Krushniak added the theft of Yorkshire Stone was a huge problem with a ready market apparently in the South of the country.

On Thursday last week, two men pulled a fifth of the tiles off the Puritan Chapel roof at Bramhope and had piled them up ready for loading.

But the night manager at the next door Post House Hotel spotted them and they drove off, abandoning the tiles.

Now, Bramhope Parish Council, guardian of the chapel, has been left with having to protect the chapel against the weather - and a hefty bill to have the slates put back.

Janet Sunderland, parish clerk, said around a fifth of the tiles had been removed from the chapel roof.

"They were all stacked up and ready to go. We're going to have to put a tarpaulin over the roof and get it back together quickly," said Mrs Sunderland.

Also last week, three houses were targeted in Hawksworth.

On Monday a whole patio worth a total of £1,000 was stolen from a house in Old Lane and the next day a house in the same road had a larger area of stone patio worth £5,000 taken.

But on Thursday, thieves were thwarted when they were disturbed by the owner of a house in Goose Lane, Hawksworth.

He returned home at noon to find a white transit van parked in his driveway, he managed to block the van in and two men ran off towards Baildon Moor.

The registration of the transit van was D141 XJR and the men are described as in their late 20s and around 5ft 9in to 5ft 10in tall. One had blond hair and was wearing a white T-shirt and torn jeans and the other had dark hair and wore a lemon coloured T-shirt and jeans.

Anyone with any information should telephone Peter Krushniak at Weetwood Police Station on (0113) 2413459 or Crimestoppers on (0800) 555111.