A NEW administrator will take charge of a major church appeal from mid-August.

The Brancepeth Church Appeal was launched in 1998 after St Brandon's Church, Brancepeth, was severely damaged in a fire.

Backed by the Duke of York, it aimed to raise £3.5m, and a £400,000 Heritage Lottery Fund enabled the first stage of repairs to begin.

Now work on the fabric of the church is almost complete, and the appeal is about to shift its focus to the fixtures and fittings.

As it reaches its final phase, with the restoration due to be complete by next spring, Adrian Rogers, its administrator for the past four years, is stepping down. He will be replaced by Ros Falcus, 52, from Chester-le-Street, who formerly worked as a Red Cross fire victim support co-ordinator.

Mr Rogers is leaving to become a Salvation Army minister at Kings Lynn.

Ms Falcus said: "The appeal is going into phase three, which is the integral part of the church. We probably still need in the region of £50-£80,000. There's also an ongoing bell appeal and there will have to be one for the organ."

Ms Falcus said she was looking forward to the challenges of her new role.

"I just started last week and I can't get over how everything has evolved due to a lot of people's hard work," she said.