IT was a case of Nearer My God To Thee when a clergyman was given a lift in a specialist aerial platform.

The Rev Roy Hemmings, vicar of Maybush and St Judd in Southampton, brought the words of the famous hymn to life when he turned to local firefighters for a helping hand to repair the wooden cross on the top of his church.

One of the arms of the cross on the tower at St Peter’s Church in Lockerley Crescent, Maybush, had come loose.

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So the crew from Redbridge Hill fire station turned the restoration request into a training exercise and used their 100ft aerial ladder to get to the problem.

Four wooden wedges were used to secure the wobbly cross. It took about two hours although the exercise was interrupted when the fire crew were called away to deal with a bush and tree fire.

White Watch manager Rob Burns said: “We had been asked to look at the cross because it was tipping forward after crows had landed on it.

“The cross is now secure and the crows will be able to sit on it again. We did it as a training session and it was also something for the local community.

“In my 30-year career I’ve never been asked to fix a cross!”

Mr Hemmings said: “Birds were sitting on the ends making it a bit of a see-saw, although there was no danger of it falling down. It was a very kind gesture on their part.”