AFTER months of repair work on the tower of St Keyne Parish Church, which took a direct hit from a lightning strike in the winter, the process of removing the scaffolding is now in progress. The 15th Century church and surrounding grounds have been closed during the repairs for health and safety reasons, and the Sunday services have been taking place in the nearby village hall. The bolt of lightning knocked off one of the pinnacles which fell through the roof and damaged the interior of the church. A new electrical system was also affected. The cost of the repairs has been approximately £250,000, of which £125,000 was for the scaffolding. The building was fully insured but the villagers have been fundraising towards a target of about £13,000 to cover the excess on the insurance and the extra expenditure of having to pay half towards the repair of another pinnacle which was discovered to have been weakened. So far £800 has been raised. Churchwarden Margaret Smee said: 'The work to finish the repairs inside the church, including the electrics, now has to be completed, after which it is hoped that the church will be open for services again in September.'