THE solitary bell in the tower of Harome's village church is set to be rung again after a £5,000 restoration project.

It had been removed last year when it became dangerous as a result of the mechanism and wooden fittings deteriorating through more than 110 years of ringing.

At the weekend bell hanger and engineer Fred Pambleton and his sons David and Christopher brought the three hundredweight bell back to St Saviour's Church from the workshop in Glapwell near Chesterfield, and re-hung it after fitting a new headstock, bearings, clapper and roller.

And not only will the bell soon be ringing out but so too will the parish church clock which has also been out of action after needing a new hammer, said Mr Fred Pambleton.

All the parts have had to be hand-made he explained. "The wooden fittings had rotted and shattered through age and use, " he said.

The Pambletons, whose family business dates back 33 years, are currently working on the bells at York Minster where they regularly do maintenance work, along with the peals at many other churches nationwide including such landmarks as Lincoln, Newcastle and Brecon cathedrals.

"We were kept very busy leading up to the Millennium restoring bells after £2.9 million was allocated for the work nationwide to enable bells to ring out at the New Year in 2000, " said Mr Fred Pambleton.

The Harome bell, first installed in 1892, has been cleaned and will be rung for the first time at Easter, though the rededication will not be carried out by Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu on April 22 when he conducts a confirmation service.

Bell ringer Allan Ventress, and joint churchwarden with Susan Binks, said St Saviour's had no bell for its first 20 years.

The bell mechanism has now been altered to ensure the clapper does not hit the same place on the bell as it has for the past centuryplus.

Much of the £5,000 needed for the restoration appeal which included the work on the bell and its mechanism and the scaffolding inside the church, was raised locally with £500 from the Jack Brunton Trust and a further £200 from the All Churches Trust.