THE future of the only remaining church organ of its kind has been secured with a £44,000 grant to help fund its restoration.

The cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund will ensure the congregation of Holy Trinity Church, Hoghton, will be singing from the same hymn sheet for years to come.

Church members held a gift day to raise the remaining £2,400 for the £47,000 project.

Work to restore the rare Renn organ will start early next year. Remarkably it is the first major maintenance project carried out on the 130-year-old instrument.

The organ, donated to the Blackburn Old Road church in the 1870s, will be totally stripped and work carried out to repair the pipes and woodwork.

During the work an electric organ will be used for services.

Holy Trinity vicar, the Rev Martin Sawle, hopes the organ, which has a Grade Two Historic Organ Certificate, will prove popular not just with churchgoers.

He said: "It's a unique organ and a great project.

"We still have an active choir and we see this as a great boost for the church.

"We are grateful to the Lottery Fund and we like to think the organ will be popular with the public for other events."

Bishop of Burnley the Very Rev John Goddard congratulated the church on the award.

He said: "They work extremely hard in the community, and I am sure it will be if great benefit to the community."

The church has a strong musical tradition. Recently it formed a Churches Together choir where local Roman Catholic, Methodist and other Anglican churches meet twice yearly for services.

Proceeds from concerts are donated to charity.

The project is due for completion around Easter 2005, when former Blackburn Cathedral organist David Goodenough will give a recital.