PARISHIONERS at St Bede's RC Church in Bury have hit out at plans by Salford Diocese to demolish the building.

And members of the adjacent church social club claim they have been left in the dark over the future of the community facility.

As reported in last week's Bury Times, St Bede's in Rochdale Old Road is to close on December 28 under a major shake-up of churches within the Diocese.

It has been revealed this week that St Bede's social centre is also to close after New Year's Eve.

Both buildings will be demolished and the land sold off.

Chairman of St Bede's social committee, Joseph Walsh, said members were distraught about the decision and how the situation has been handled.

A statement from the committee read: "There has been no communication from the Diocese about the matter and no reasons given. If St Bede's is to close it will tear out the heart of the community and provide no facilities for its members and parishioners."

Mr Walsh said the 30-year-old club has 300 members and is used every evening by local clubs and societies, including Bury Stroke Club and a children's dance class.

He said he had spoken to a large majority of parishioners from the church and they felt the decision to close St Bede's had been made "behind closed doors".

Mr Walsh said leaflets were handed out after Mass stating the church was closing down and many felt it was a "cowardly and insensitive way" of informing them.

An alternative suggestion was to close St Joseph's Church as it was older than St Bede's and in need of repair, but he complained that the parishioners believed they had had no say in the matter.

"St Bede's has had no priest of its own for five years," said Mr Walsh. "No wonder numbers have dropped. We used to have three masses and a congregation of 250, now we only have one mass and 80 parishioners. As regards the club, no one has formally told us it is closing."

Assistant priest at St Joseph's, Father Andrew Stringfellow, said: "I stood up in church and told parishioners of the closure before they got a leaflet and we were available for questions after mass.

"They were not directly asked if St Bede's should close but discussions have been going on for three years. The social centre is not as popular as it was and a very small number of people use it. It is being closed and sold with the church as a package."

He said a meeting will be held within the next two weeks with parishioners to discuss the demolition and sale of land.