The Somerset church bells that are first to be cast with cypher of King Charles III

A set of church bells from North Curry in Somerset are the first to be cast with the new cypher of King Charles III at a historic bell foundry in Loughborough.

John Taylor and Co, which can trace its roots back to the 14th century, has created a new set of bells for St Peter and St Paul church in the village.

Villagers raised £150,000 to make it happen after the bells fell silent for years because of old age and safety concerns. Some travelled to be among a group of visitors to the foundry to see the company at work.

George Dawson, archivist at Taylors, said: "It's the very first time that Taylors have used those patterns and one of the guys who came was a pattern maker to see the fruits of his work as well."

Residents from North Curry were among a group of visitors to watch their bells being cast

Churchwarden and verger at North Curry Mary Piers said: "Having been in the village for 40 years and heard the old bells to now see our new ones being cast is very special, very meaningful, and obviously will remain with us for many, many years. Hopefully, people in 200 years will still be enjoying them."

Vicar Simon Bale said: "It's been really exciting. It's the culmination of so much work, and to see the bills actually poured into the cast is quite something. It's quite emotional, frankly. I was able to say a prayer of thanksgiving and of hope and gratitude as well at the beginning for all this being done.

"We are so pleased it's got to this point that we can see them being recast. To come here with people from the village and the parish is terrific. Also to meet people here from around the country who now know the story as well. It's really good. It's a wonderful story."

From breaking up the old bells, creating new moulds, casting, cleaning and tuning the job to complete North Curry's bells will take months.

After that they will return to Somerset and after years of silence, the village will hear church bells once again.