VANDALS are blighting the lives of parishioners at a Horwich church.

For the last three months members have been arriving at Lee Lane Methodist Church for their Sunday services to discover the building has again been attacked.

This week it was a broken window -- only a week after another window was replaced at a cost of £100.

Officials have revealed that in a catalogue of attacks drainpipes have been pulled from the roof of the 98-year-old building, graffiti has been daubed over the walls and the wrought iron gates at the entrance have been ripped off and stolen. Despite extra security measures, including protecting the windows with mesh and approaching the local police to request more patrols, the vandalism has continued and has so far cost the church around £500.

President of the 16-strong congregation, life-long member Marian Laithewaite is frustrated that church funds are continuously having to be used to repair the damage caused by vandals.

She said: "The garden seems to be a hide-out for youths at the weekend and we regularly collect bags of empty cans and bottles.

"There have been problems on and off for a few years but things have escalated over the last few months. It has got to the stage where we arrive dreading what we are going to find."

With such a small congregation, funds are limited and members have been forced to organise a special coffee morning in an attempt to raise money to pay for the damage.

Mrs Laithewaite, aged 67, said: "We are taking steps to prevent the youths congregating. We are having shrubs and bushes in the garden removed to make it less secluded, but at the end of the day we just want them to stop.

"It's very upsetting for us and we would much rather be raising money for good causes than constantly repairing damage."

Insp Simon Miskell of Horwich police said: "The church has become a place where young people aged between 12 and 16 congregate every weekend and commit anti-social behaviour.

"We are monitoring the situation and looking at how we can displace the youths but also we are urging parents to ask their children where they are going at night.

"It is very disappointing that this sort of behaviour is going on, particularly at a place of worship.

"We will be looking at serving acceptable behaviour contracts on these youths and applying for anti social behaviour orders if the problems continue."