THESE 230-year-old church bells have sat undisturbed for almost a century.

Ringing out across Blackrod since the 1780s, the six bells have now been taken from St Katharine's Church to a foundry in Loughborough for some much-needed care.

Volunteers helped undertake the mammoth £46,000 project to remove the bells from the tower so they can be restored to their former glory.

Mike Kay, aged 43, is the tower captain who manages the church's ringing team.

Mr Kay, from Blackrod, who has been a bell ringer for 30 years, said: "The initial problem we had was severe corrosion on the bell frame due to weather.

"The bells are set on a steel and cast iron frame.

"The metal framework was put in in 1922, prior to that it would've been a wooden frame.

"We are on top of a hill in Blackrod so we get quite a lot of rain through the louvres, where the sound comes out of the side of the tower."

The largest, heaviest and lowest-sounding bell — the tenor — dates back to 1783 and weighs as much as an old Mini Cooper.

The other five were cast three years later.

The framework on one of the bells was so corroded, it has been out of action for the past 18 months.

Mr Kay said: "They were probably taken out in 1922.

"It's been a massive undertaking and we are only half way there."

The costs have been covered thanks to £36,000 raised through various events and donations, a grant of £7,000 from the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers and labour cost savings due to a team from the church helping out.

It took them five days to remove the bells which are now at John Taylor & Co bell foundry, operated by the same family since 1784, where they will be cleaned, given a special coating to protect them and have all the fittings restored or replaced.

The restoration is expected to take three to four months and all six bells will be back ringing out from Church Street in September.