YOUNG church bell ringers were part of a national team who broke a world record.

Four bell ringers from North Yorkshire were part of a team of 12 who rang for three hours, 25 minutes on the 12 bells at Melbourne in Derbyshire on Sunday.

With an average age of 15 years and 341 days, they were the youngest team in history to achieve this on 12 bells – beating a record which lasted 34 years.

The group was made up of James Town, 16, who rings at Northallerton, and Ewan Hull, 15, who is part of the band at York Minster and St Wilfrid’s in York.

The other bell ringers from the region were brothers Luke Riley, 16, and Alex, 18, who both ring at Selby Abbey.

Alex Riley conducted the ringing and ensured any mistakes were rectified.

He said: “This peal was rung well by any standards and I had little need to correct mistakes by the band, whose members all tried their hardest and are rightfully delighted with the result.”

They are members of the Yorkshire Tykes bell ringers, who meet monthly at various churches and take part in the Ringing World National Youth Contest.

They will be the defending champions this year after scooping the Whitechapel Trophy for the competition in 2017.

For more information about the Yorkshire Tykes, visit www.yacr.org.uk