THIEVES broke into a church and used a stolen wheelbarrow to escape with the ‘empty’ safe. 

Police received reports of a church break in on New Wellington Street, Blackburn at around 5am today.

It is thought two men broke into the rear of Blackburn Gospel Hall and stole a ‘secure’ and ‘essentially empty’ safe.

The men fled the scene after putting the safe into a wheelbarrow, which was stolen from a nearby residential property.

They escaped across the Leeds and Liverpool canal before a dog owner spotted them walking along the canal with the safe and reported it to the police. 

The safe, which included legal documents, expenses forms and a small amount of cash, was retrieved by officers and handed back to the church.

One man was arrested at the scene after one of the other suspects fled the scene. It is thought the other man has now been arrested.

One neighbour said he was ‘shocked’ and ‘surprised’ by the news but said the incident didn’t wake him up during the early hours.

Church elder Brian Conway, who has been a member of the church for over 20 years, said his heart was ‘thumping’ when he first heard the safe had been stolen later in the morning.

Mr Conway said: “I haven’t seen anything like this in my 20 years as a member of the church. My heart was thumping and I was just so worried about it.

“The fact that the whole place is still in tact and no real damage to the building is a relief.

“It’s a great sadness that someone so desperate came to a church and wants to take something.

“It’s so low to do such a thing or to steal from anybody else.”

Despite the ‘shocking’ theft, church goers visited the Gospel Hall to carry out their normal, weekly Sunday service, which took place from 10.30am to 12pm.

The police forensic team returned to the church after the service to look for fingerprints and other evidence to indicate who the culprits were.

The back entrance to the church has since been boarded up by one of the elder’s friends to deter other would-be thieves from attempting to steal the safe. 

Anyone who has seen anything or has any information should call the police on 101 referencing the log number LC-2018-0520-0316

Alternatively people can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.