A church has been targeted by lead thieves for the second time in 18 months.

In the latest raid, thieves took £30,000 of lead weighing more than a ton.

Churchgoers may have to dig into their pockets to help pay for repairs and replacement as insurers are capping the amount they pay out for large or repeat thefts.

Thieves struck at St Mary the Virgin in Church End, Nether Broughton, near Melton, on Thursday night. They got away with lead from the roof of the chancel, nave and north aisle.

In November 2007, a pensioner's funeral had to be switched to another church after thieves stripped lead worth £10,000 from the church roof, leaving rain to pour in, making it unsafe to use.

It had been the 85-year-old's final wish to have a funeral in the village in which she had lived all her life. Instead the service took place at St John the Baptist, in Old Dalby.

Following that theft, the vicar, the Rev Jeff Hopwell, put up posters around the village asking people to look out for anything suspicious.

Church officials are now exploring alternatives to lead for the roof.

Diocesan communications officer Liz Hudson-Oliff said: "It is a great shame. It damages churches leaving them vulnerable to the weather and costs the church and the community money it can ill afford.

"We hoped this kind of theft was in the past, but obviously it isn't."

A spokesman for Ecclesiastical Insurance said the maximum cover it offered was £10,000, which would not meet the cost of claims.

He said: "There needs to be more effort made to protect churches in the first place. We are offering churches as much help and support as we can."

Sergeant Lee Morris said: "I urge all churches to review their security and for people living in the area to be vigilant and look out for suspicious vans or trucks."