The two-tonne 15-ft wooden sculpture of Jesus Christ was being delivered to St Michael's and All Angels in Houghton on Friday evening, when the accident happened.

The sculpture, which is carved out of a tree trunk, was lowered off an articulated lorry using a crane and then six volunteers used a trolley to push it into the church and down the aisle.

Despite the heavy weight, all was going well - until a right turn into the Gilpin transept caused havoc.

Reverend Derek Newton, who was helping out at the time, said: "It was a very awkward turn and despite being strapped onto the trolley the structure was very unstable.

"As we were turning it it became even more unstable and ended up falling off."

The structure fell right in front of the chansel in the middle of the aisle. Passerby Paul Lanagan, 26, who took pictures of the incident, said: "Everyone was so worried because there was a wedding the next day, and the chansel is the worst place it could have fallen because that's where the bride and groom say their vows."

Rev Newton added: "We were a little bit worried because we did need to move it before Saturday so we contacted the fire brigade who were extremely helpful."

A fire crew from Sunderland central came to help the church remove the structure.

Crew manager Bob Jones said: "We were there for about an hour and a half but in the end we used air bags to lift the structure onto metal rollers which we used to roll it out of the way."

Rev Newton said he was very thankful to the firefighters for their hard work. He said: "We are extremely grateful to the fire brigade and at the end of the day everything was ok.

"There was no damage to the sculpture or the church, and thankfully no-one was hurt. It was an awkward job and unfortunately things didn't go to plan but thankfully there was no disruption to the wedding."

The sculpture has now been put in the Gilpin transept temporarily, until it is decided where is should be put permanently.

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