TERRIFIED clergyman Gary Gotham said a little prayer before jumping from the tallest building in Devizes on Sunday.

Luckily his trust in God and the safety team behind a sponsored abseil at St Mary's Church paid off.

He said: "I have this fear of heights which has got worse as I have got older but I wanted to challenge myself. I said quite a few prayers and put my faith in the experts."

The Rev Gotham from St Andrew's Church was among a host of clergy who took a leap of faith to raise money for Christian Aid.

Also joining in the abseil was the Bishop of Ramsbury the Rev Edward Condry and his wife Sarah. Mrs Condry said: "I was quite scared when I was waiting to go but it was fantastic. A girl of ten was also jumping so I felt I had to put on a brave face.

"We both really enjoyed the whole event. It was a lovely community day and very well organised. The view from the top of the tower was incredible. You could see so much of Wiltshire spread out before you."

One of the more unusual sights on the day was farmer Cameron Naughton, who is a member of Devizes Baptist Church, who did the jump in a pig onesie.

Other clergy taking part included The Rev Canon Paul Richardson from Devizes, William Laing from Urchfont and Ann Massey from Derry Hill.

Christian Aid co-ordinator Katrine Musgrave said: "We had a total of 31 people jumping and I was delighted with the way everything went. A few people were a bit scared but no-one backed out.

"I think people really enjoyed the view from the top of the tower. It was designed to be an event for the whole family and we had messy play for children, a teddy bear zip wire and refreshments.

"We advertised in advance that people could volunteer to take part and be sponsored but we had a few spaces left on the day and so some passers-by joined in. One lady went home and returned with her husband and children. We charged £15 to take part."

She hopes the event will have raised several thousand pounds for the charity which helps people living in poverty around the world.