CHURCHGOERS are closing in on their fundraising target in a campaign to preserve a city landmark.

The wraps have gone round the tower at St Cuthbert's Church in North End, Durham, as contractors begin a lengthy restoration of the crumbling 150-year-old structure.

Faced with a repair bill which has reached more than £300,000, parishioners set about their fundraising in August 2000, fearing that the tower would otherwise eventually collapse.

They set out a business plan, attracted grants from a range of bodies, and staged fairs, collections and similar events to boost the appeal.

Now less than three years later, they have just £14,000 to raise and there is still five months to go before the specialist masonry team is expected to complete the job.

Church warden Bill Dixon, chairman of St Cuthbert's Church Tower Project Committee, praised the generosity of people in the parish.

Mr Dixon said: "It's amazing really. We've raised about £100,000 of it ourselves, which is not bad for such a relatively small parish."

He said churchgoers had been helped by large grants, particularly from English Heritage, as well as from the Historic Churches Preservation Fund and Northumbria Historic Churches. The Durham diocese had given substantial help.

Area dean and team rector, the Reverend Jon Bell, is still able to conduct regular services at the church, despite the disruption of the scaffolding and awning, which has been nicknamed 'St Cuthbert's net curtains' by some regulars in the congregation.

It is expected that the unusual tower, designed with a pitched roof like those in the Normandy area of France, will be fully restored to its former glory by late October.