Losing my religion

Churches have been targeted by vandals and thieves for so long that people have stopped being shocked, but it is still a major problem. Liz Booth examines what is being done to protect churches and, in the process, curtail the increase in liability claims they currently face

Theft of the church silver hardly makes headline news these days after years of problems with churches and places of worship generally.

Today it is hard to shock with tales of mere theft and even vandalism hardly warrants a mention. But the trend is still unsettling for many who had grown up considering holy places as sacrosanct and it has forced a change in the way of thinking for many associated with such buildings.

In the UK there is a total of some 45,000 places of worship, of which the