A CHURCH in North Yorkshire is hoping to convert a disused industrial unit into a place of worship for its new congregation in a County Durham market town.

The Richmond-based Influence Church hopes to establish a permanent presence in Barnard Castle by moving in next door to a firm specialising in vintage car restoration on the Harmire Enterprise Park.

Influence Church, which has operated in Richmond for more than 60 years, established a congregation in Barnard Castle in May 2012.

Sunday services were initially held at the TCR Hub and are now staged at the Barnard Castle Methodist Church Hall.

Pastor Ben Dowding said establishing a permanent presence in Barnard Castle would help the church increase its activities.

He said many other venues has been considered but these were either not available at times to suit the church or did not have enough space and parking for those attending.

The industrial unit, which has been marketed without success for more than two years, was ideal for the church's purposes, he said.

Mr Dowding added: “In this time, there has been little or no other interest in the building.

“There are several other empty buildings on the enterprise park, so should others be looking there are still opportunities for business to locate to the park.”

He pointed out that although the the unit was in an industrial area, it was also within 10 minutes' walking distance of the town centre.

He added: “At the moment, there are about 50 people who meet in Barnard Castle on a Sunday at 5pm and other occasional events.

“We would aim to quickly establish Sunday afternoon services in the building before providing other activities such as a pre-school group and parent and toddler group to help benefit the community.”

Mr Dowding said there was no similar style of church in Barnard Castle and the town's existing churches had signalled their support of the plans.

“Although we have been using temporary venues, we don't see it as a temporary connection with Barnard Castle. “We see it as a longstanding connection and putting down physical roots helps with that.”

The planning application is currently being assessed by county planning officers and the deadline for comments is Tuesday, April 2.

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