THE Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope consecrated the completion of a Blackpool church last weekend -- 75 years after it first opened.

Members and friends of St Stephen on the Cliffs have raised £260,000 in two years for a new entrance and enlarged worship area at the church, which was the first to be consecrated by the first Bishop of Blackburn on May 17, 1927.

Vicar, Fr Peter Walsh (pic left) said: "This is a truly historic and wonderfully joyful occasion."