| Updated: 18:56, 06 January 2021
A prolific gang stripped the lead from dozens of rural churches across England, including Billingborough and Normanton, causing utter devastation to village communities, a court was told today (Wednesday).
The four men, who appeared in Lincoln Crown Court, targeted churches from Somerset to North Yorkshire during a two-year crime spree which left churches facing repair bills totalling more than £2 million.
The counties hardest hit by the crime spree were Lincolnshire, Somerset, Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire.
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Thefts also occurred from churches in Wiltshire, Suffolk, Leicestershire and Derbyshire.
The gang, who all lived in the West Midlands, were arrested in March 2020 after police set up a special unit to investigate the large number of church lead theft cases.