A LANDMARK development spearheading the long-awaited renewal of Bishop Auckland's dwindling fortunes is under way.

Builders have started work on a £675,000 conversion of a Newgate Street church into a "one-stop" community centre in the heart of the town.

The Four Clocks project is the brainchild of Bishop Auckland Community Partnership, which has secured grants totalling £1.2m from sources including the National Lottery's community fund, the Coalfield Regeneration Fund, the Church Urban Fund, the Esmee Fairbairn Trust, The Tudor Trust, the Government's Single Rengeneration Budget fund and the Scott Trust, which has family links with Bishop Auckland.

Newly appointed project director Meg Brown is the first of as many as ten people who will be employed to run the centre after it opens next April.

Builders T Manners and Son are mainly working inside the Grade II-listed former Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Two upper levels are being created inside the seating area, to double the floor space and create meeting rooms, offices and other accommodation for use by a wide range of groups.

Bishop Auckland College will have a learning shop on the ground floor and run the centre's caf as a training base for catering students.

Other agencies, including Relate, Shonham, the 2D volunteer Bureau, Bishop Auckland Women's Refuge and community safety groups will all use the centre regularly, while the Wear Valley Citizen's Advice Bureau, Age Concern, Victim Support, Children North-East and Bishop Auckland Family Contact Centre could be based in the building.

Other proposals include a shoppers' creche and an exhibition hall.

A new entrance will lead into a foyer in the church's chancel, dominated by its existing stained glass window in memory of local men killed in the First World War. The conversion was designed by John Niven Architects, of West Auckland, and engineers are BES Consulting Engineers.

Meg Brown, who works from Bishop Auckland Methodist Church, Cockton Hill, said: "The Four Clocks has a great deal to offer local people. The challenge will be to ensure the centre is constantly responsive to and reflective of local need."