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Little festive spirit as vandals hit churches

29/12/2004

VANDALS showed a distinct lack of Christmas spirit, targeting two churches over the holiday period.

First, 'snipers' using an airgun tried to shatter historic stained-glass windows at Rochdale Parish Church and then, hours before the midnight service on Christmas eve, a reinforced security window at St James's, Milnrow, was forced out of its frame.

The attack on the Parish Church resulted in two floodlights being smashed and a protective window being damaged.

Two cartridges from a power airgun were found in the church grounds.

The vicar, the Rev David Foss, said: "We get all sorts of vandalism, but we've never had anything like this before.

"Thankfully the windows themselves were not damaged, otherwise the bill would have been about £8,000."

Police have ruled out any link between this incident and the attack on a car in nearby Drake Street days earlier when a four-month-old child had a lucky escape when the rear window was shattered.

Mother Alison Fox was driving along Drake Street when the rear window disintegrated, showering glass on her husband Paul and just missing baby Lucy.

It was at 10.30pm on Christmas eve when the vicar, the Rev Robin Usher, was walking around Milnrow Parish Church and noticed the security window had been forced out of its frame. Hours earlier he had inspected all the church windows and found them intact.

The church warden was able to carry out a quick repair job and the service went ahead as planned.

Mr Usher said: "It was not a very seasonal thing to do. Whoever did it probably did not realise there was midnight service. I think it is a very odd thing to do. I would have thought at Christmas people would have been with their families."