COUNCILLORS will meet next week to discuss plans to demolish a church.

Bishop Auckland's former Trinity United Reformed Church, in South Church Road, could be pulled down to make way for homes.

Worship at the church ended three years ago and the building has stood empty since then, falling into a poor state of repair.

Internally, the building is in very poor condition and alterations during the 1960s, to add an upstairs hall, and a small modern link extension to the back, were of poor quality.

A developer now wants to pull the church down and build four three-storey town houses in its place, each with a small rear yard.

Members of Wear Valley District Council's development control committee will meet at the Civic Centre, Crook, on Wednesday, to make a decision.

Residents living in terraces built around the church in the early 1900s have expressed concerns about the scheme, mainly worried about the impact on their property.

Planning officers have recommended that permission be granted, with suggested conditions including restrictions over future development to safeguard the visual amenity and impact on neighbouring homes.

The officer's report states that although the building is old, and has some traditional features, it is not a listed building or in a conservation area.

Converting the church is thought to be out of the question because there would not be enough parking space for the resulting homes or offices.

The congregation was founded in the 1860s when a large number of Scots moved to the area, and within a few years the building was opened and became an important part of the town.

As the congregation dwindled, members could not find a community group to go into partnership with to share the building and so it was forced to close.

At one point the members considered a new beginning elsewhere in the town or involvement in an ecumenical partnership, but this idea never came to fruition and the town's only United Reformed Church closed after 140 years.