The sound of church bells ringing at one Wigton church could be silenced for the first time this century - due to a shortage of ringers.

There are currently eight bell ringers based at St Mary’s Church, on Longthwaite Road to ring the eight bells that sit within the tower.

However the group are concerned that should one or two members be unavailable, then they would not be able to carry on, with no backup available.

The bells have rung out every Sunday since they were installed in 2000 to commemorate the millennium. Members are now appealing for anyone who is interested in learning how to ring church bells to get in touch as they look to boost numbers.

Wendy Graham, a member of the guild of bell ringers who rings at St Mary’s, said: “There’s eight bells and at the minute we only have eight ringers.

“We appreciate that some weeks people are unavailable which means that we’re left short.

“We can usually cope if there’s seven of us but if we’re down to five or six then we can be struggling.”

Wendy has been helping to ring the bells at St Mary’s since 2000, following the death of her late father.

“I was looking for something to do to keep active,” she explained.

“I was involved with the church and so it stemmed from there.”

Wendy said that the church would welcome potential bell ringers of all ages and that it is open to anyone who wishes to get involved.

“Anyone aged between 10 and 100 can learn how to ring bells,” she said.

“We’re all members of the Carlisle Diocesan Guild and we often take trips to other towers to do ringing there.

“Once you’ve become competent and are ringing at Sunday services then you can ring bells at pretty much any other church in the country.

“We often have ringers who visit churches in places like Carlisle and Cockermouth.

“We have a practice every Monday between 7.30pm and 9pm and we ring for service to call people to church every Sunday morning between 9am and 9.30am.”

Mary Snape, another member who has been ringing bells since 1976, said she is also concerned that the group may have to stop unless new ringers come forward.

“If someone isn’t able to make it due to sickness then we have problems,” she said.

“It’s also the case if someone’s on holiday. We have eight members and eight bells but ideally we’d be looking for four more people so we have 12 in total.

“The great thing is that you’re able to take it as far as you want.

“If you only want to be able to learn to ring for Sunday service, then that’s fine.

“But if you want to be able to learn more complicated forms of ringing then you can if you want.”

Mary added: “The ideal age to start is probably around 12.

“We’ve noticed that 12-year-olds have the strength to do it and are good with coordination as well, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t welcome people who are older.

“We’ve had young ringers in the past but often they go away to university or leave home. If they come back, sometimes they aren’t interested in bell ringing anymore. It’d be good to have people in their twenties and thirties come forward who will be part of the future.”

Anyone who is interested can attend one of the practice sessions on Monday evenings.

Alternatively they can contact tower master Martin Snape on 016973 71437 or the vicar, Geoffrey Ravalde on 016973 42337.