A warden at a church said continued thefts were "morale sapping", and the high price of scrap metal means more churches are being hit. Christopher Luke, warden of St Paul's Church in Spennymoor, added: "We only discovered the latest theft during our All Souls service because of torrential rain pouring through the exposed part of the roof." He added: "We did not have much lead on the roof, but what we did have was stripped away and caused extensive damage."