THE bells of Litton Cheney church are silent and likely to be so for months to come.

But that silence is music to the ears of residents who dug deep in their own pockets to raise £22,000 to have them restored.

All of the eight bells need maintenance but two of the centuries-old church bells in particular were in a parlous state and last week they were removed from the bell tower so they can be repaired.

St Mary’s Church sixth bell, dating from 1656, and the eighth or tenor bell from 1470, need major surgery.

The cost is estimated to be around £20,000 and in the two years since the restoration appeal started villagers have raised more than that.

Restoration project manager John Salvetti said half of the £22,00 came directly from village donations, 10 per cent from fund raising events and the rest from the church and grants and help from local companies such as Hussey and Briggs and Palmers.

Mr Salvetti said: "To contribute that much in terms of personal donations is an amazing effort it really was."

The operation to removed the two bells was tricky, he said, with the eight bell weighing 13cwt and the bell foundry's lorry unable to get up the narrow road to the church.

A local builder came to the rescue and helped pick up the bells and transfer them to the lorry.

It is hoped the two bells will return from Loughborough in time for Christmas and the six remaining bells be back in tune before that.

Mr Salvetti said: "The number eight bell was the heaviest and the number six was the one we suspect has a crack in it. Both have old fashioned head stocks that need to be changed.

"It was quite an operation to lower the bells because of the weight of them.

"But getting the bells down was the easy part of the operation getting them back up again is going to quite exciting.

"We asked Steve Westerman from John Taylor how long he had been working with bells and he said something like 37 years we reckon that over his working lifetime he'd lowered something like 2,400 bells he was a really experienced guy.

"At the same time all the bells will have a little bit of maintenance to make sure they are ready for the next 50 years.

Mr Salvetti added it was also poignant to read in the News' Looking Back 100 Years Ago section last week that the week the bells were taken was the same week that Litton bell ringer Tom Weller died in the First World War.

He added: "It seemed strange 100 years after his death we are moving bells that he rang."