PAVING slab thieves have been targetting the local area with losses including historic stones from a churchyards.

that could date back as far as the 18th century were stolen from a churchyard, following a spate of similar thefts in the area.

The shocking theft at Stand United Reformed Church was discovered last Wednesday, July 6, when painters noticed York stone slabs, believed to be dating back to the 18th century, were missing from a path leading to the graveyard .

Police visited the Stand Lane church and have issued warnings over a series of York stone thefts across the borough in recent weeks.

It is not known whether the stones were part of the original church, built in the 1790s, or added when the current church was built in 1885.

Audrey Halstead, church secretary, said: "We had the police in on Thursday morning and they said there had been an outbreak of this sort of thing in the last few weeks.

"It must have happened on Tuesday night. It's not an area that we use all of the time, but we have had painters in this week and they noticed when they went around the back of the church.

"Unfortunately, it's tough to find out where these vandals have gone and what they have done with them.

"We don't know how much it will cost to replace them and whether we will be able to replace them with proper York stone or just regular paving slabs.

"They have always been a part of the churchyard, so I expect they will date back to sometime in the 1700s. It's just vandalism, plain and simple."

At the last Radcliffe township forum meeting residents raised concerns over slabs being stolen around the town with Jim Jones, the police inspector for Radcliffe East.

There were also worries that someone may be planning to steal stones from around Radcliffe Tower, after members of the public noticed piles of stones appearing around the historic site.

Roy Vernon, who runs York Stone Sales Ltd, says he has noticed a significant rise in thefts across the region over recent weeks.

He said: "I have been called out to an elderly couple in Tottington who had part of their garden stolen and asked me to buy the rest of the slabs from them because they are terrified of those being taken too.

"The same thing had happened to a man who lived two doors down.

"There have been a lot of reports from Radcliffe, Bury, and Bolton in the last few weeks. People have been calling me to check that I hadn't bought any stolen slabs, so there is obviously a spate at the moment."

Police confirmed that there have been nine offences of theft of expensive York Stone across the Bury South division in a seven day period.

PCSO Norman Taylor, of Bury South neighbourhood team, said: "On two occasions the offenders have been back twice so they are repeat offences.

"They just pull them up and load them into the back of a van because most of them are not cemented in.

"We have had a couple of white van sightings in the area and a red Citroen Picasso."

In total between 50 and 60 paving flags have been stolen from Bury properties and they are believed to be worth £65 per square metre.

Anyone with information should contact the police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.