ONE year since an 800-year-old Hampshire church was devastated by fire work to rebuild it is getting underway.

Ropley villagers were left "heartbroken" on June 19 last year when St Peter's Church was engulfed by flames and almost completely destroyed.

All that remained were the outside walls and it took some six months before the church was secure enough for firefighters to investigate - no cause was found.

Now the Friends group and residents are hard at work to ensure it will be rebuilt. Various structural surveys have been carried out to assess the extent of the damage.

Andy Bonner, rebuild coordinator, said it is hoped that outline plans will be complete by the end of the year.

"It's a bit of a waiting and doing game," he said.

"From our point of view it is all going well, but getting it done takes a phenomenal amount of time. We are starting to get things done now. It's just going a little more slowly than we would like.

"Everybody has been working towards getting it sorted but there's not a great deal that people can do until we have the plans."

The church was insured for £2.6 million but until plans are drawn up Mr Bonner said it is hard to tell how much will need to be raised.

He added that to repair, recast and replace the bells it will cost £75,000.

The fire left the roof, bell tower, medieval architecture and doorways devastated - even the contents of the church safe were exposed to such heat that only fragments of the register survived.

Vicar of 24 years Rev Royston Such, who has since left, could only stand and watch in horror as around 70 firefighters battled to put the flames out.

A spokeswoman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue said the length of time before an investigation was carried out was "unusual".