A CONGREGATION member, who was among 40 people trapped in a church, has praised fire officers for their efforts to free them.
The worshippers, at Kingdom Hall, Seaham, County Durham, were at an evening service on Thursday when youths snapped a padlock on an 8ft high security fence surrounding the building.
The fire brigade was called and officers using a power saw took about ten minutes to remove the padlock.
John Radley, who was in the church, said: "Over a year ago, we had stuff stolen from our hall, so we took a lot of time to make the place secure.
"The firemen were very helpful and managed to release the lock without any damage."
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