A mammoth bank-holiday book sale gets under way this weekend, raising money to repair an ancient north Norfolk church.

Thousands of books, ranging in price from five pence to �200, will be for sale in Morston Village Hall in the third annual event, from Saturday May 5 to Monday May 7, 10am-4pm.

'We have been amazed by the generosity of donors,' said Friends of Morston Church treasurer Rob Metcalfe.

The response had been so great that they were having to put up a marquee to cope with the overflow.

Books range from individual pamphlets and paperbacks through to whole collections on subjects as diverse as birds and the military.

The top-priced book, entitled 'Twenty Select Colloquies, Out of Erasmus Roterodamus; Pleasantly Representing Several Superstitious Levities That Were Crept into the Church of Rome in His Days' is a first edition from 1680 and is currently being sold by a specialist dealer in Bath for �625.

'We have tried to price all of the books below what they would be in the shops so there are definitely some bargains to be had,' said Mr Metcalfe.

The Friends raise money for the repair of Morston's 13th-century All Saints Church.