TALENTED Weymouth College masonry students have put their skills to good use by helping to restore parts of a church.

They came to the rescue of St John's Church at Greenhill when they noticed deterioration and erosion caused by environmental factors such as salt in the air and general weather conditions on one of their field trips to look at masonry work in the area.

New lime mortar had to be made to match the colour and texture of the old stonework and the repair took the team of seven students three full days to complete.

Masonry lecturer Alison Henry from Weymouth College's school of construction said the students supplied the labour and materials free of charge and had really enjoyed working on the restoration project.

She added: "They measured up what was required and they've done a really good job."

Tom Wallis, who is in the second year of an Applied Architectural Stonework and Conservation Foundation degree course, said: "Working on the restoration of St John's Church has been a really worthwhile experience as it gave us an opportunity to practice what we had learnt at college. We enjoyed working on the project and it's great to know the stonework is now preserved for many years to come".

Anyone who would like more information about masonry courses at Weymouth College should call 01305 761100.