THE Christmas bells will ring out from Dulverton All Saints’ Church over the festive season – but few will hear them.

In past weeks, visitors and residents have complained that the church’s eight bells are no longer audible in many areas of the town since the tower was sound-proofed as part of the installation of a new mobile phone mast.

An antennae for Vodafone and O2 mobile phone services now runs inside the grade two listed church tower and transmission equipment has been installed near the bell chamber.

But bellringers claim that insulation work involving completely boarding up the belfry windows has seriously muffled the sound of the bells and also those in the church clock.

“Our church bells are very much a part of Christmas in Dulverton,” said 90-year-old Jim Walker, who has been All Saints’ tower captain for 22 years.

“It will be a sad day if they don’t ring out as usual to herald Christmas Eve.”

Ringers have also been barred from the bell-chamber by Vodafone notices warning ‘Radio frequencies. Danger do not enter’.

“We are very anxious to meet with Vodafone and the contractors and find out exactly what is happening,” said spokesman for the ringers, Anne Markwick.

She added: “There have been many complaints about how the bells are no longer heard by many people who previously enjoyed the sound and relied on the clock chime for sound checks."

She said the louvred windows, which let the sound out, had been boarded up: "The sound now echoes through the church until it’s almost unbearable.”

All Saints’ churchwarden Steve Ford said there had been teething problems since the system was turned on only last Friday but he was confident these could be sorted out.

"Mobile phone signals in this area have always been very poor, or non-existent, and putting a concealed aerial in the church tower seemed the ideal solution.

“No-one has actually come to me to complain and I can hear the bells quite clearly from my home, which is more than a quarter of a mile away. I don’t understand these claims that they are inaudible," he added.

Dulverton’s rector, the Rev Andrew Thomas, said: “If the bell-ringers have any complaints they should come to me, but no-one has,” he said.