A PRESTON church is to be bulldozed to make way for a new £1million building including a new community centre.

It comes after plans to demolish St Cuthbert's, Lytham Road, Fulwood, and rebuild it were rubber stamped by the city council this week.

Church-goers raised a staggering £125,000 toward the project and religious leaders are hoping to call on grant funding for the remaining cash.

Work to demolish the church, which was built in 1914, is expected to start in autumn.

St Cuthbert's vicar, the Rev Chris Halliwell, said: "We have been building up to this, and we're ready to start moving out and start the renovation work in September.

"We are going to be moving the church into the hall for the time being, and a new church centre is going to be built up on the existing site."

The decision to pull down the church was taken by church bosses after the repair bill to bring it up to scratch was found to be too big. When it was first put up the church was never fully finished, and only half of it was built to last. "We have been advised that the only way we can move forward is to knock it down and start again," explained Mr Halliwell.

Only two of the external walls on the church were built to last, and the three pitched roofs have been prone to leaking.

The £900,000 scheme will begin later this year, with work expected to be finished by late 2004 to early 2005.

When the work is complete there will be meeting rooms, a kitchen and cloakrooms, and it is hoped the building will attract a number of organisations including after school clubs.

In the meantime Mr Halliwell and the church council are looking for the rest of their funding, from grants and local agencies. So far money has been scraped together from the diocese, from the sale of church assets, and a massive donation from the congregation.

He said: "That was incredible. That was just from our congregation. This was a very clear indication that the congregation is fully behind this project."