WORK to restore Launceston’s St Mary Magdalene Church’s vaulted ceiling is ‘progressing quite rapidly’.

Churchwarden Heather Letts said the work started on August 3 and was due to take four to six weeks but it was now hoped it would be less than that.

A fundraising evening last Thursday allowed visitors to see how the work is progressing. Ms Letts added: “Those who came were very generous and raised about £300, with donations from local businesses.”

Work to the church’s rare decorative timbers follows a survey that found many of them were not safely secured.

The survey was prompted after one of the bosses and attached rib on the vaulted ceiling fell to the floor in 2013 during a service — fortunately, no-one was harmed. Three of the carved angels were also found to be unsafe and the church was forced to close for several weeks.

The church remains open while this current work is taking place, with tower scaffolding being used that can be wheeled around, and furniture moved to accommodate the scaffolding.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week’s edition of the Post.