At the end of the war, efforts were made to restore Imber to its pre-war condition – although there was very little damage – but the decision was taken not to relinquish control. A rally in the village was organised in 1961 to demand that the villagers be allowed to move back, and over 2,000 people attended, including many former residents. A public inquiry was held, and found in favour of Imber's continued military use. The matter was also raised in the House of Lords, and it was decided that the church would be maintained, and would be open for worship on the Saturday closest to St Giles's day each year, a practice that continues. A further attempt to restore Imber took place in the early 1970s when the Defence Lands Committee (DLC) was given the task of looking into the need for the retention of MoD lands. The Imber case was represented before the DLC by David J Johnson, an Imber researcher; Richard Madigan, a former soldier who helped to evacuate the village — and testified to the promise of return after the war — and Rex Mutters, a wartime fighter pilot. They were assisted by Austin Underwood, who had led the campaign in the early 1960s and backed-up with written evidence from former villagers. In spite of all the additional evidence, including the first re-appearance since 1943 of the original eviction letter (which indicated return), the DLC recommended that the village be retained for military use. The annual church service, on the Saturday nearest to 1 September (St Giles' Day), has been attended by former residents including Ken Mitchell (grandson of Albert Nash); the son of the last schoolmistress, John Williams; soldiers who have used the village for training, and the general public. The village is open to visitors on other occasions; generally these are certain Bank Holidays and around Christmas. From 2009 to 2018 there has been a Carol service on the Saturday before Christmas. Since 2009, the annual summer opening of the village has been served by preserved and new double-decker buses, many originally from London. These operate to a scheduled public timetable, not as excursions, and the village appears as a destination on the bus stop at Warminster railway station. Unlike the rest of the parish, St Giles' church and its graveyard remained in the hands of the Diocese of Salisbury, although access was and is controlled by the Ministry of Defence. The Bell Inn was sold to the MoD in the mid-1950s and the Baptist Chapel in the late 1970s.