A SAWBRIDGEWORTH chuchwarden has written to David and Victoria Beckham for help to raise funds to repair the crumbling church roof.

Di Kitson, a lay minister and churchwarden for Great St Mary's Church in Church Street, wrote to the famous footballer and his Spice Girl wife who now live with their son Brooklyn on the outskirts of the town to ask if they would hold an event to help raise part of the £420,000 needed to repair the roof.

Mrs Kitson said: "I wrote to the Beckhams and asked them to put on some kind of charity event to help raise some money, but so far have not had a reply.

"I've spoken to their press officer and they said that they get thousands of letters every day of the week and it's just a matter of processing them all. Unfortunately most of them go in the bin."

The church has already raised £158,000 to tackle the dry rot which has consumed the nave roof.

Builders have started work on improvements and have already repaired one side.

Mrs Kitson said: "The builders are really getting on. The church is 650 years old and with all churches of that age there are always on-going repairs. They have already repaired one side of the nave roof with new cross beams and new posts but there is still quite a lot to do. The main thing is the dry rot but there are lots of other problems."

The church is waiting to hear whether it will receive an English Heritage grant, but if is refused and the church cannot raise any more money there is a possibility Great St Mary's will have to close.

Mrs Kitson said: "If we can't raise any more money we will have to ask the parishioners for interest free loans to get the work completed and hopefully get the church back to normal. The church will only close as a last resort and purely from a safety aspect."

She added: "We're not asking the Beckhams for money, just purely and simply whether they would be prepared to hold a charity event to raise the maximum publicity for both them and the church.

"We would like to see them integrate into the town but it's entirely in their hands whether they get involved or not."

Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the roof appeal can write to Great St Mary's Church parish office, 1 Vantorts Road, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, CM21 9AH.

November 28, 2001 11:06