THIEVES who caused thousands of pounds of damage to a Saxon church have been warned they could face a lengthy spell of imprisonment.

Yesterday, Darlington Magistrates' Court was told how Matthew Alfred Swinbank and Kalvin Francis Lennox targeted St George's Church at Low Middleton, near Middleton St George, in order to take lead and building equipment.

The 20-year-olds both gave their address as West Middleton Farm, which neighbours the church, parts of which date back nearly 1,000 years.

They both pleaded guilty to a single charge of burglary.

However, Swinbank asked for six other similar offences to be taken into consideration and Lennox asked for four offences to be taken into consideration.

Alison Nunn, prosecuting, said that among those extra offences, which included several other burglaries in the Middleton St George area, were other occasions when the pair broke into the church.

The remote building is in the process of being renovated after a bequest was left to it by a villager. However, the restoration has been plagued by vandalism, costing thousands of pounds.

Ms Nunn said the pair had targeted the premises because of its isolated location and removed lead and damaged stained-glass windows. They were caught after their fingerprints were discovered following a break-in in September in which a generator, heater and power tools were taken.

Ms Nunn said the cost of the damage to the church was thousands of pounds.

However, she said: "What's really hard to put a value on is the impact to a community trying to do something positive and trying to restore this church and being targeted in this manner. That's a lot harder to put a value on."

Alan Green, for Lennox, said his client had no previous convictions and this was his first time before magistrates.

The bench was advised that in a recent case at Teesside Crown Court a lead thief who had repeatedly stolen from a church was sentenced to ten months imprisonment.

The magistrates, whose sentencing powers are limited to six months' imprisonment, agreed to commit the matter to Teesside Crown Court on a date to be fixed.

The chairman, Ian Jamieson, told the pair: "Because of the aggravating features, the history of the church and what has been felt by the local community when this sort of offence happens, our powers aren't sufficient to deal with it."