TWO of the three bells stolen from a Herefordshire church six years ago have been discovered in an estate agents in Wiltshire.

The medieval bells were stolen from their display cases in Edvin Loach Church, near Bromyard, in December 1997.

One of the bells was spotted by a Trowbridge bell ringer in a shop window as he was on his way to practice. Medieval bells are taller and thinner than modern ones.

Ann Willis, a Trowbridge woman with a knowledge of bells, photographed the two bells and put the pictures on a bell historians website, where they were recognised by David Bagley, a Gloucestershire bell expert.

He had photographed the Edvin Loach bells in the early 1990s.

"It's an amazing story," said Allan Wyatt, Edvin Loach church secretary, who went with the vicar to identify the bells.

"We were discussing the problem of how to secure them at the time they were stolen, but as time went on we were advised that they had probably been stolen to order and exported or, worse still, melted down."

The third bell, the sanctus bell and the smallest, is still missing but Edvin Loach churchgoers are optimistic it may yet be found. The other two bells are to be returned to the church.

"This presents us with a bit of a problem," said the vicar, the Rev David Howell.

"We must ensure that this time they are displayed in a way that ensures they are not stolen again, and after all the publicity they will be of even greater interest to the visitors to our church."

No date has yet been set for the return of the bells.