A CHURCH hopes to keep vandals at bay thanks to the generosity of shoppers.

St Edmunds, Bearpark, has had half of its windows, some of them stained glass, broken in two attacks.

Now a special coating is to be applied to the glass to protect it from further damage.

The church has been awarded a grant of £450 to carry out the work from the North-Eastern Co-op's community dividend fund.

The fund is distributed to good causes. The money comes from Co-op shoppers who have dividend cards.

A Co-op spokeswoman said: "The 19th Century church has had 13 of its 26 windows broken in two separate attacks.

"The windows date back to when the church was built in 1879.

"St Edmunds' community dividend grant was awarded by the Co-op's Mid-Durham divisional committee.

"The committee, which is made up of democratically elected members, considers applications under the community dividend scheme for its area every other month.''