A CHURCH has been held up as an example to the rest of the country as to how government grants should be used to make such buildings the centre of the community.

Burnley MP Peter Pike, a regular worshipper, wants St Peter's Church to be a blueprint for opening up buildings to wider use.

He tackled Stuart Bell, who represents the Church of England in the Commons, on the question of the conditions where churches receive restoration grants from English Heritage, the government body responsible for looking after historic buildings. He asked Mr Bell to assure him "that churches that receive restoration grants as part of our heritage are brought back into community as well as religious use, as was intended when they were built."

He also sought assurances that facilities and access for disabled people would be considered when grants are made. Mr Bell told him that money was limited to urgent, high level structural repairs and repairs to historic fabric but he would take up the point about disabled access with the authorities.

Mr Pike said: "I want St Peter's Church in Burnley to be used as an example.

"When it got a grant it used it to make it open to the community and to provide proper access for the disabled.

"They made sure that it was not just open on Sundays for people to worship but that it could be used for a whole range of community activities - from lunch clubs to a whole range of other things.

"The important thing is that in future such churches should become the centre of community activity again, as has happened at St Peter's."

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