FUNDING is finally to be granted to allow restoration work to begin on a village church almost two years after it was virtually destroyed by fire.

St Brandon's Church, at Brancepeth, which was left an empty shell in the blaze in September, 1998, is to be awarded £400,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

It will allow the first phase of restoration to begin as part of a total £3.4m rebuilding programme to the church, parts of which date back 900 years.

An application by the Parochial Church Council for grant aid was turned down by the Heritage Lottery Fund last October.

Confirmation of rejection coincided with a visit by the Duke of York and resulted in what appeared to be a public royal rebuke for Peter de Lange, English Heritage's North-East assistant director.

But Mr de Lange this week revealed news of St Brandon's successful bid in the latest round of funding.

"I hope within the next week we will be confirming the offer of £400,000 for repairs, together with conditions for the works.

"It will pave the way for the ultimate bringing back into use of one of the finest churches in County Durham.

"Regrettably, it will not be quite the same as it was before, because it's simply not possible to reinstate all the furniture. It would only be a replica even if more money was available.

"Nevertheless, it will still be a very fine church building and a fine place of worship."

Mr de Lange said phase one of the work could take up to 18 months, but said further funding for later stages was a possibility.

James Marr, chairman of St Brandon's rebuilding committee, said: "We are delighted with the news, but we can only give a cautious welcome until we receive details of the conditions applying to the grant.

"The important thing is the rebuilding scheme now has the endorsement of the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage, which will now enable us to launch a public appeal and make applications to other trusts and charities."

Mr Marr added that £2m of the overall £3.4m cost will be met by insurance payments.