Church leaders and parishioners are appealing for help after thieves began siphoning off their fuel supply.

An oil tank in the grounds of St Mary's Church in Slaugham, near Haywards Heath, keeps the 900-year-old building heated during the winter months.

But crooks have been pilfering the contents of the tank, costing the church hundreds of pounds.

Carol Steggles, 60, of Turners Hill, noticed the problem at her son's wedding last week.

"I thought there was a funny smell from the leakage but I didn't want to say anything.

"Someone said it was about time they filled up the tank because it was empty and then we found out someone had actually been stealing it.

"It just seems such a mean thing to do. It's a lovely sleepy village so it's surprising that someone is doing this.

"Perhaps people could make a donation every time they have a wedding or something like that."

Daphne Simpson, secretary of the Slaugham Society, said: "These kind of things are rather new to Slaugham as we always thought we were quite an insular village."

The Reverend Gary Simmons said it would be impossible to make the tank tamper-free.

He said: "It has happened regularly over the past three years. We have put measures into place, on the advice of the police, to try to deal with the problem.

"We think it must be the same person or people. It has cost us hundreds of pounds."

Send all donations to Mrs Larkin, 11 Warren Cottages, Horsham Road, Handcross, RH17 6DG.