Church bells to be rung at deserted village of Imber

A full peal of bells is to be rung at a church in a Wiltshire village that was abandoned during World War II.

The feat will take place later at St Giles Church, Imber on Salisbury Plain, which was deserted and taken over by troops for training in 1943.

It will be the fourth time a full peal has been rung since a new set of six bells was re-hung in August 2010.

The original bells were taken out in 1950. Bell ringers from Devon will make the attempt.

Honorary custodian of the church, Neil Skelton, said: "In 1968 one of the original bells was used for the restoration of Edington, and the other four were scrapped.

"Only one full peal of bells was ever rung on the church's original bells, in 1923, and that was rung by a band of ringers from Trowbridge.

"We have the church open for about twenty days a year now, depending on what access the Ministry of Defence grants us."

The entire civilian population of the village was evacuated in December 1943 to provide a training area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe during World War II.

They were never allowed to return.

Since 2005, when the church was taken over by the Churches Conservation Trust, over £300,000 has been spent on renovations.

The full peal is expected to take about 2 hrs 30 mins to complete.