Three men have been arrested in connection with the theft of historic paving stones from St Mary's Church in Astbury.

Today (Monday) police arrested a 48-year-old man from Oldham on suspicion of theft. He is currently in police custody for questioning.

Two other men, aged 27 and 35, both from Manchester, were also arrested on suspicion of theft and have been released under investigation.

The arrests formed part of a joint operation with Cheshire Constabulary's rural crime team, Staffordshire Police, Lancashire Police and Greater Manchester Police (GMP).