A FORMER church may have to be demolished after the fourth serious fire in the Stoneyholme and Daneshouse area of Burnley in the past few months.

Fire destroyed the former St James's Church in March Street, Stoneyholme, and today an investigation was under way to try to determine the cause.

In April, fires destroyed Daneshouse Working Men's Club and Burnley Plumbing Supplies and badly damaged Stoneyholme Primary School.

The latest incident began at about 9.30pm yesterday and fire crews spent two-and-a-half hours tackling the fire.

Burnley Council building inspector Peter Holt asked police to keep a watch over the premises overnight and today he was meeting with the surveyors for Blackburn Diocese, who own the building.

He said: "Some demolition will have to take place before this week is out because the gable ends are dangerous. The building will also have to be made secure because of the internal damage the fire has caused.

"I believe the building was in the process of being sold, and given the option of repairing the structure, I think the Diocese will probably opt to demolish the whole building."

Sub Officer Peter Latham said: "When we arrived there were flames coming out of a window at the front of the single-storey building. "A board had been ripped off the building and the fire had been started where the altar was.

"The fire has spread up into the roof space and it travelled along the length of the roof causing the roof to fall in and expose the inside."

Firefighters from Burnley and Nelson used a turntable ladder.

St James's Church had been in the town for 150 years and when its original building on Bethesda Street was demolished in 1966, the congregation moved to the former engineering works at Stoneyholme.

It closed in January 1998, when nearly 160 people attended a thanksgiving service.

The former St James's church spire was made into a peace garden, but despite protests, it was demolished to make way for the multi-million pound development of Curzon Street.

Police were today examining the scene.