AFTER months of wrangling a tiny religious group has won council approval to hold a mass in one of Britain's oldest and smallest churches.

Philip-James French, a priest in the Holy Catholic Church West Rite - Orthodox Catholic Faith, received national attention in July when he proposed to hold a mass at the long-disused St Andrew's Church in Upleatham, near Saltburn, east Cleveland.

However, permission was refused at the last minute when it emerged that the mass would not be a Roman Catholic service.

The Church of England transferred St Andrew's to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's ownership in 1987, and the council has now reconsidered its decision.

The group must still obtain permission from the Church Commissioners to hold the first non-Anglican mass in St Andrew's for 500 years.

Council leader David Walsh said: "Whilst the council is not an ecclesiastical authority and is not experienced in doctrinal rights, I believe we should accept the application on the basis of the case that the church put forward and the difficulty in getting to the root of the objections from the local Roman Catholic and Anglican churches."

A spokesman for the Right Reverend John Crowley, Roman Catholic Bishop of Middlesbrough, said: "We were concerned that ordinary Roman Catholics might think this was a Roman Catholic service, but if it is clear that it is not, we have no objection."

No one from the Anglican diocese of York was available to explain the reasons for their initial objection.

Mr French, a former Anglican priest, declined to comment.

However, Leslie Hamlett, an archbishop in the group, which he describes as "traditionalist Catholics", said he was pleased about the decision.

He said a similar faith group had been given permission to conduct Latin masses at St Mary's Centre, in Corporation Road, Middlesbrough.

Meanwhile, the borough council is planning to investigate the possibility of promoting the church as a tourist attraction and a centre for wedding ceremonies