AN ANCIENT parish church, which was subject to graffiti being daubed on its walls and doors, has undergone a clean up — and the young people who confessed to the vandalism are among those helping in the work.

St Peter's Church in North Tawton was daubed with graffiti on the outside of its walls and doors, along with comments written on the headstones in the graveyard earlier this month.

The vandalism left residents of the town shocked and disappointed by the attacks.

But the Rev Brian Ardill said the young people involved felt great remorse for what they did.

He said: 'I had some very nice letters, which were very contrite and apologetic.

'I also had a call from the fathers of the people involved, who came around to see me — they were very embarrassed and devastated by what had happened.'

Mr Ardill said the teenagers who caused the damage had been at the church after school helping to clean up the graffiti.

He said: 'All of the graffiti has almost gone now and we have been using hot water and a wire brush, which has worked really well, and the walls have come up really beautifully.

'The doors are probably the biggest problem because the wire brushing removed a bit of the paint, but we will keep working on that.

'We will repaint all four doors and the gate and they will look really good for a wedding coming up.'

The young people involved will be making arrangements to come to one of the services at St Peter's Church to apologise to the congregation, said Mr Ardill.

The church is also holding a Big Harvest service to encourage young people to come to church.

Everyone is welcome to the service, which will be host to a special speaker from the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS).

The service will be held on Sunday, September 27 at 11am.

The church is also holding a special harvest super on Friday, October 2 at 7pm.