Halstead Holy Trinity Church bosses on woman being locked in

Earlier this month, a resident was locked inside the Holy Trinity Church in Halstead for what she described as "three to four hours".

Now church leaders have ensured telephone numbers are on the church door in case the incident is repeated.

Dean Mackness was at the scene during the incident and after speaking to the resident, said she was crying and distressed.

The resident had been shopping at Lidl before visiting the church as she had recently lost a couple of relatives.

After multiple calls to different numbers which were unsuccessful, police and firefighters were called to the scene, however, weren’t required to take any eventual action due to the keyholder arriving.

Firefighters at the scene when the woman was left locked inside (Image: N/A)

Steve Card, chairman of the Friends of Holy Trinity Church group, has clarified what happened on the day and what has been done to prevent any future repeats of the incident.

He said: “When the church was locked for the night at 3.30pm that afternoon, as usual, we announced “Church is closing, is anyone there?" and there was no answer so the church was locked up.

“About 5pm the same day, I received a phone call from Essex Police informing me that someone had been locked in the church.

“My wife went across to open the church and found a lady sitting on a chair inside the front porch.

“She said that she had heard the call that the church was closing but didn't answer as she was in prayer.

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“The next day I opened the church as usual, cleaned up the red wine spillage and replaced the crucifix back on the alter , where it should have been.

“Two chairs were also put back into the aisles.

“The contact numbers used would not have helped as they would be for the Churches Conservation Trust main office however a local number is now available on the door.

“We hope that the lady concerned will continue to visit Holy Trinity Church and enjoy its peace and tranquillity.”