The top of the steeple was pulled off and sent two tonnes of stone crashing down through the church, causing major damage to the walls, roof, floors, pews, pianos, heating system, carpets and stonework.

Church warden Tony Clarke said the new group would keep people up to date on the repair work - and try to find new ways of raising funds for the Grade II listed church.

He said: "Many local people were appalled when they found out what happened. We have had a lot of interest from people who we didn't expect to be interested."

The spire has now been deemed unsafe and has to be supported before work can start on the church roof. Once that is done, work can start inside and, finally, the 170ft spire will be taken down and entirely rebuilt.

Mr Clarke said: "We were hoping to be in for Christmas, but we don't know.

At the moment the job has stopped. It's a waiting game.

"We can't use the church. Annoyed doesn't cover how we feel about the damage. When we went in it looked like the Blitz - it seemed like there had been an explosion."

Most of the cost of the repairs will be covered by the church's insurance.

No figure has been put on the final bill, but it is expected to be a huge sum.

The church will also face extra expenses, including decorating and new security measures.

Theft hit church will cost £750,000 to repair