A BUSINESSMAN bought himself a grade-two listed church complete with graveyard before rivals had the chance to bid.

The man, whose identity has not been revealed, snapped up Belgrave Chapel, Bolton Road, in Darwen town centre, and its 300-grave graveyard for a fee in the region of £100,000.

Now he must pay thousands more to finish converting the 155 year-old church into 15 flats.

It was scheduled to be auctioned by Manchester-based Eddisons at Lancashire County Cricket Club.

But Mr Carter stepped in with a bid to tempt the auctioneers.

Auctioneer Tony Webber said: "The site attracted a lot of interest and many people were shown round, but we felt the bid was too good to refuse so we accepted it before the auction."

Planning permission was granted eight years ago to turn the church into flats.

"The new owner must build the remaining 12," said Mr Webber, "The previous owner has already done a lot of work to the roof and the windows.

"He has spent a lot of money and the church is practically converted inside, but it still needs three-quarters of building the work doing."

The church now has some security after several turbulent years. It ceased to be a place of religious worship in the early 1980s after falling into a state of disrepair.