A SOMERSET church which is struggling under the weight of repair and maintenance bills has won permission to sell its font.

A SOMERSET church which is struggling under the weight of repair and maintenance bills has won permission to sell its font.

St Peter's Church in Draycott is offering the historic Victorian piece, made by famous architect William Burges, to museums for £110,000. If it is not sold after six months, the font will go to auction.

Rev Stanley Price said: "When we announced we wanted to sell the font a lot of people said it should remain somewhere where the public can still appreciate it.

"If a museum offers to buy it, everyone will be happy. We will have the money to pay for repairs and people will still be able to see the font."

The news comes after the church was offered £100,000 by a private collector, who also offered to replace the font at the building off School Lane. The private collector told the church he was interested in the work of Burges and after phoning around churches in Yatton and Winscombe he discovered the font was at St Peter's Church.

But after months of letter writing to the Chancellor of the Doicese from people who supported and were against selling the font, permission was finally given.

Rev Price was now written to the Cardiff Castle Museum to offer the font to them, as they were one of the objectors who opposed selling the article. When sold, the money will be used to replace the font and the rest will be spent on repairs.

During a survey last year, the church was estimated to need £76,500 worth of work, including a new central boiler, repairs to water damaged plaster, repairs to floors and new furnishings.