WORSHIPPERS in Cutcombe have been left counting the cost of a second arson attack on their parish church in just three months.

Thursday's blaze is estimated to have caused £200,000 of damage to the historic St John's Church, destroyed a number of pews, prayer books and church literature, as well as the wooden floor and prayer cushions.

The heat from the fire was so intense it damaged the rafters and the very foundations of the church itself.

Assessors, architects and insurance experts, as well as cleaning specialists converged on the church this week as work began apace to repair the damage.

Even the church organ is expected to be out of action for many months after being clogged with dust and smoke, while parishioners will be forced to hold their services in the nearby village hall for the foreseeable future.

Mully Woolmer, treasurer of the parochial church council, said the fire was believed to have been burning for up to two hours before a passing dog walker spotted flames and alerted the emergency services.

Mrs Woolmer said: "Everything in the church is completely black. Its awful, a terrible sight.

"Apparently if the fire had burned unnoticed for just another 15 or 20 minutes the whole church would have gone up in flames."

She said the full extent of the damage was still unclear as specialists were due to put up scaffolding to enable a thorough inspection of the singed rafters above the nave.

Mrs Woolmer said: "Thankfully nothing of any true value in the church was touched but it's destroyed 12 big prayer books, four pews and all our day-to-day pamphlets.

"They're bringing in scaffolding to look at the rafters and will have do a clean with chemicals before they can do anything else.

"Much of the damage is concentrated around the four pews and we lost our visitors book again."

The church's original and treasured 30-year-old visitors' book went up in flames in the last arson attack on the church in May.

The damage that time was only limited after an eagle-eyed villager spotted the blaze and called in fire crews.

Like the original fire, Thursday's blaze is believed to have been started deliberately and 36-year-old Wheddon Cross woman Grace Coles appeared before Taunton Deane Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with arson.

She was remanded in custody and is awaiting trial at Taunton Crown Court on September 23.

Inspector Carol Pearce from Minehead police station said: "This exceptional incident was responded to quickly by police and a local female has been arrested, interviewed and charged for the serious offence of arson and is currently on remand awaiting trail.

"I recognise that there are concerns within the local community and in response a meeting for local residents was held on Tuesday evening at St John's Church.

"This is a very unusual crime in West Somerset and was exceptional in circumstance."

Ms Pearce warned people not to be tempted to take the law into their own hands: "I ask the community to remain calm and to allow the police and criminal justice system to take this matter forward.

"We remind the public to not undertake any action that might prevent the criminal proceedings from taking its proper course or prejudice the forthcoming trial."

Fire crews from Minehead and Dulverton and a supporting appliance from Wiveliscombe were called to tackle the fire just before 8.45pm on Thursday evening.

Firefighters used four sets of breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets and a ventilation fan to extinguish the flames and clear the church of smoke.

Photo: Steve Guscott