Bradford's Anglican clergy are set to tackle the subject of church security following a national conference.

One church in three in Britain is subject to some sort of crime, be it burglary, vandalism or other crime, each year.

So next month Bradford Diocese will be holding its own conference to set the agenda on what local church councils can do.

Assistant Diocesan Secretary Alex McLelland travelled to Wells in Somerset for a two-day conference which looked at new Churchwatch schemes.

People from 30 different dioceses were told the results from a scheme in the Bath and Wells diocese where crimes fell from 87 to 14 in a year because of extra vigilance and shared information between churches.

But Mr McLelland said it is too early to say whether Churchwatch schemes would be set up in the Bradford district.

"We do suffer crime and we do suffer break-ins and vandalism and it's more now that it once was. But we seem to be fairly lucky in this part of the world compared with some others.

"The large majority of churches are locked and people can't get in but by looking at security may be we can get churches open again."

He added: "Some of our Dales villages have a fairly small community with a single church and there seems little point in having a Churchwatch scheme and not be part of an existing Neighbourhood Watch scheme, or being the spark to set one up."

The conference will be held in Skipton on February 22.

Recent times have seen Yorkshire stone being stolen from St Barnabas, Heaton, and Holy Trinity, Idle, while two valuable chairs were stolen from St Margaret's Church, Ilkley.

The Ecclesiastical Insurance Group (EIG), which is the main insurer of Church of England property, paid out £4 million in damages last year.

A spokesman encouraged church leaders to ensure that crimes against places of worship were included on the local authority's crime reduction strategy.

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