AN appeal, which is hoped to enable the return of church bells to a Forest village, has been launched.

The 300-year-old bells at All Saints Church in Longhope are still in good shape - but the medieval tower in which they are housed has been weakened.

Experts have said the bells should not be rung until essential works to strengthen the tower have been completed.

An appeal was launched last week to help bridge a £90,000 funding gap.

The adopt-an-anchor appeal aims to raise £18,000 for the metal rods which will be used to stabilise the tower.

Around 60 metres (195ft) of rod that will run the entire width of the tower will need to be installed.

The stainless steel rod will be surrounded by grout which will bond the anchor to the wall and strengthening it.

The overall cost of the works is £165,000 and £65,000 has come from legacies.

The Friends of Longhope Church have a fund-raising target of £10,000, leaving a gap of £90,000.

The Friends group recently held a very successful scarecrow trail around the village.

Appeal organisers are also applying for grants and say the adopt-an-anchor scheme will demonstrate to funding bodies that local people are serious about the project.

Architects and structural engineers carrid out a detailed survey of the tower in July 2020.

They subsequently reported that the bells should not be rung until the tower had been strengthened.

Vicar of Longhope Rev Lara Bloom said: "There is something wonderfully British about the sound of church bells ringing out from a country village church whether summoning worshippers to church on a Sunday morning or heralding a life event such as a wedding or a funeral.

"My favourite though is the sound of the bells at midnight on Christmas Eve heralding the birth of the Christ child.

"There are about 5,000 churches with bell ringers in Britain and almost everyone lives within hearing range of one of them.

"Or at least they did. Unfortunately, the bells at All Saints Longhope have been silent for some time now."

The work on the tower is one part of a proposed restoration project at the church.

There is a fund-raising page at www.justgiving.com/longhopeadoptananchor.

Donation envelopes are also available at the church and Central Stores in the village.

Bank transfers can be made by using the sort code 60-09-02 and account number 36784079 with the reference Tower and your name.

That includes rebuilding small turrets called pinnacles and the heavy stone louvre windows, replacing of cracked quoins or cornerstones and several other badly weathered stones and replacing large areas of cement mortar with lime.