The Lichfield Diocese has been identified as one of five worst hit spots for lead theft from churches in the UK.

New data from specialist church insurer Ecclesiastical revealed there had been 60 claims so far this year in the diocese

The Manchester diocese has had most lead stripped from their roofs by criminals this year.

It tops the list of metal theft claims with more than 90 claims recorded up to the end of November. It is closely followed by Lincoln, Chelmsford and Southwark dioceses with more than 70 claims from each.

Overall 2010 is set to be the third worst year on record for theft of metal from churches. So far, a total of 1,484 claims have been received by Ecclesiastical from UK churches alone with a total cost to the insurer exceeding £3 million.

John Coates, Ecclesiastical’s direct insurance services director, said: “It’s been a pretty dire year for lead theft.”

Churches across Lichfield Diocese are using forensic liquid SmartWater on their roofs. The Lichfield Diocese renewed an appeal for anyone seeing suspicious activity at churches to report it to the police.