BELLRINGERS at a Westhoughton church will be paying tribute to the team rector by ringing the bells for three hours tonight.

The eight-strong team of bellringers are going to perform a peal which includes 5,000 sequence changes at St Bartholomew's Church in tribute to the Rev Simon Tatton-Brown.

Team rector Mr Tatton-Brown is due to move to a new post in Chippenham, Wiltshire, after serving Westhoughton for 12 years.

The bellringers, led by Captain of the Tower Geoffrey Fothergill, do not normally play midweek and usually only perform during a church service.

But this was the only time all eight of them could get together and they are hoping Westhoughton residents will not be unduly disturbed by the noise coming from the Market Street church.

Mr Fothergill said: "We normally only rehearse midweek, so people might be surprised to hear us ringing for three hours.

"Church bells are not to everyone's taste, but we hope residents and any local businesses open at that time will be happy with what we're doing.

"It's customary to ring a peal of bells when a rector arrives and leaves, so this is our way of saying farewell.''

During the Anglican Rector's time in Westhoughton he has overseen several major projects in the town.

The parish church has been rebuilt, there is a new parish school, and an extension has been added to it.

Mr Tatton-Brown was ordained in 1979, becoming a deacon priest the following year.

He worked for almost three years in Ashton-under-Lyne, and six-and-a-half years in Prestwich.

During his time in Westhoughton, he has served as chairman of the Churches Together organisation on several occasions.