A HERITAGE lottery grant of £27,000 will help ensure that worshippers at St Edmund's Church in Shipston stay warm and dry.

The money, announced by English Heritage as part of a £2 million package of grants to churches in the West Midlands region, will be spent on repairing the church's windows and guttering.

Rev David Thurburn-Huelin, vicar of St Edmund's, said: "We are extremely grateful because we have to raise a considerable amount of money to do these two major jobs on the church."

He said the windows are mainly clear glass and have not been attended to since they were put up in the 1850s, when the church was built.

The other job to be done is to improve the collection of water running off the church roof.

"The hoppers and drains are all too small and our current architect, Reg Ellis of Chipping Campden, has designed large receptacles, hoppers, drains and gutters at the back end of the roof," said Mr Thurburn-Huelin.

The church will receive the lottery grant in two stages, one of £5,000 towards the initial work and fees and £22,000 towards the work itself.

The total cost of the work is estimated to be about £50,000, some of which was raised at a marathon Bible reading last September, which made £15,500.

Parishioners in nearby Honington have also given £4,000 to the building's restoration.

The church has previously received an Awards for All lottery grant of £4,500 for a new switching mechanism to make more efficient use of its boiler.

Its medieval tower also had restoration work carried out on it following a fundraising campaign.