If you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves.

That is the motto of 92-year-old Val Sillery who raised £10,058 towards the St Giles Church roof appeal by selling books at 20p each.

Mrs Sillery's sterling effort which took 10 years is one of several events to raise £150,000 to replace the chancel and Lady Chapel roofs of the medieval Grade I listed building.

During the restoration project, the historic beams will also be analysed to find out how old the church is.

Mrs Sillery, who started the book box in 1996, said: "We just kept the book box as full as we could.

"I'm very keen to see the roofs repaired and it will be interesting to see how old the beams are."

Church warden Catherine Barrington-Ward said frequent minor repairs and patching to both roofs had gradually overloaded and damaged the ancient supporting beams.

She said: "St Giles has survived so many centuries supported by the community it has served.

"Its chancel and Lady Chapel roofs are now in urgent need of repair."

Builders from Everest Roofing Ltd of Eynsham started work removing the roof tiles on Thursday.

Fundraising kicked off on June 6 with an organ recital by Sir Michael Scholar, president of St John's College. The next event is a lunchtime garden party in Green College on June 25, featuring acapella group Out of the Blue and the City of Oxford Silver Band. Tickets are available by calling 01865 305305.

A competition is also being held to guess the age of the chancel roof timbers with a chance to win two Virgin return flights to New York, courtesy of Sir Richard Branson.

Each guess costs £1 and entry envelopes can be found in St Giles Church and at the garden party.

To donate to the fundraising appeal, call 01865 311198.