A CHURCH congregation is enjoying the fruits of its labours after five years of fundraising.

The rebuilt Methodist Church in Carrville, Durham, is now in use after a five-year development project.

The Victorian building has been replaced with a modern church on the same site in the High Street.

There is an ancillary building, with a meeting room and kitchen, which was built during the first part of the £500,000 development project.

Leading figures in the Methodist circuit have been invited to attend the reopening ceremony at the end of the month.

The minister, the Reverend Alison Wilkinson, and the congregation, have already been using the new facilities.

The church's building fund committee will now disband, having successfully overseen fundraising to meet the cost of the developments.

Committee member Dorothy Stewart said it was down to the hard work of her fellow members, backed by the excellent response of churchgoers and the public to the various activities.

People can take a look around the church between 11am to 6pm today.

A reopening ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 31, at 3pm.