LOYAL parishioners of an under threat church in Somerset are moving forward with plans to save the 600-year-old building from closure.

As reported in the Mercury �150,000 is needed to carry out major repairs to St Congar’s Church in Badgworth.

Its tower was deemed structurally unsafe last year and has been out-of-bounds for 12 months.

Architects recently told parishioners the grim news that if repairs aren’t carried out the church will eventually be forced to shut.

Louise Beamish, churchwarden, has been spearheading a campaign to save the historic building.

Around �2,000 was raised at a Feast of Flowers event last month and she is in the process of filling out a lottery grant application for �75,000.

She told the Mercury: “I think this has brought reality to people – it has made people think ‘we could still lose our church’.

“The whole parish has shown a great sense of community spirit and we need to show the lottery board how much support there is and how much we really need our church.”

Louise will also be applying to 10 other organisations for the remainder of the �150,000.

A cream tea fund-raiser in aid of the repair fund will be held at Badgworth School Rooms at 3pm on July 3, and other events are also being planned.