More churches are putting on "bizarre" Christmas spectaculars involving live camels and angels on stilts to woo worshipers over the holiday season, insurers reveal.

Some churches in England have turned to live animals in an attempt to attract church-goers while others are considering conducting their nativity service in a barn in the hope of putting on an exciting show.

Insurers Ecclesiastical, which insures most of the UK's Anglican Churches, said it has been flooded with unusual queries in the run up to the Christmas period.

Helen Richards, a manager at Ecclesiastical, said: "We've had some bizarre conversations and some really interesting requests from our church customers.

"One customer called to ask if they would be covered if they held their nativity service in a barn and another wanted to know if angels on stilts would be covered under their policy.

"My personal favourite is definitely whether we had any advice on bringing real camels in to the church!"

Ms Richards added: "We are very much an enabler when it comes to things like this."