THEY may be wearing habits in a church but none of these ladies has resigned herself to the contemplative life.

The actresses swept into East Hoathly church to rehearse for their production of Sister Act.

They are due perform the 1992 hit comedy inside the church with their United Benefice Dramatic Society, also known as Ubends.

Kevin Stokes, chair of the group formed in 1998 to bring together two parishes, said: "We were very lucky to get one of the last licences to perform the show before a new professional tour starts.

"We have already done Jesus Christ Superstar."

Some of the proceeds from the show, due to run from Wednesday May 4 until Saturday May 7, will go towards the churches of East Hoathly and neighbouring Chiddingly.

Ubends was set up to bring the two Church of England parishes together to perform musicals, and now,for logistical reasons, performs only in East Hoathly church.

Its Sister Act show has a cast of around 33,led by actress Kate Horscraft, a mixture of churchgoers and non, and a ten-piece band.

The hit show sees lounge singer Doloris put into a convent to protect her from gangsters, where she has to pretend to be a nun called Sister Mary Clarence.

Mr Stokes said: "I think it is incredibly rare to put on a show in a church in this way.

"We actually take the church over for a while and build a full stage.

"I went down to audition once as Jesus but ended up as Judas.

"It is a huge undertaking and it has got even bigger over the years.

"The vicar there is amazing - he lets us play with his church to a ridiculous extent.

"We have even cast him as a Roman Catholic bishop."

Ubend's production, which sees Sister Mary Clarence bring rock and roll to her convent's choir, is directed by Colette Goodwin.

Mr Stokes added: "We have even got the church bells being rung as part of the show."