THIEVES thwarted in their attempt to break open a safe in a North Yorkshire village church have returned.

Initially, the raiders tried to chisel out the wall safe from its surrounding stonework in the parish church of St Lawrence at Aldfield, close to Fountains Abbey, near Ripon.

Churchwarden Anne Carrick arrived to find a gaping hole in the wall where the safe had been secured.

On a separate occasion she had noticed attempts to break into the safe and chisel away at it surroundings, but never expected to discover the thieves would return and take the whole safe out. It was used for visitors to make donations after visiting the church.

Miss Carrick said she was relieved the thieves had not done more damage to the building.

"It's terrible in itself to be thinking that way these days. But I just find it so sad that people looking for money will do this sort of thing," she said.

She added that there would be no more than £5 in the safe, now replaced by a collecting box with a note saying it is emptied daily.

"It was decided that rather than replace the safe and offer further temptation we should repair the hole."

St Lawrence's church is listed among the country's 1,000 best churches in a book published by Simon Jenkins.