THESE spectacular images are giving people a chance to get a look at Chichester Cathedral from a different angle. Gareth Davies and Siobhan Ryan report.

WHEN Chichester Cathedral was struck by lightning in November 2014, it left officials with a bit of a dilemma.

They needed to get up the spire to assess how much damage had been done but at the same time they had to be careful of disturbing the protected peregrine falcons that call the holy building home.

Taking that into account, plus the costs of hiring people climb up and take a look, the team came up with a different idea.

Using a drone remote controlled from the ground by qualified operators, they were able to get some close up high resolution images of what had actually happened.

Cathedral acting clerk of works, Tony Allen, said: “The survey managed to help us pinpoint exactly where the damage was and work out how to deal with it.

“It went up and down the north, east, south and west sides of the spire and finally found where the problem was – about 20 foot down on the west side.

“Thankfully it was not too big, about the size of a 10 piece and we can get to it from the inside without too much of an issue.

“It was a relief to find out there wasn’t more damage than there was because that could have cost us thousands.”

The added benefit of using the drone was the cathedral was left with some stunning footage of both inside and outside the building, the spire, and views of the historic city of Chichester.

Mark Boyt, 39, founder of Sussex By Air and the man who shot the incredible footage, said: "We had to get there early, probably about 6.30am, because that would be the quietest time for us.

"It couldn't have gone better weather wise and we got some really, really good shots.

"To produce about two or three minutes of video we shot an hour of footage."