A VILLAGE church has been pressed into service as a classroom.

St Mary’s Church, at Alne, near Easingwold, North Yorkshire, is hosting maths lessons three days a week.

The Reverend Chris Park stepped in to fill the gap at the village’s primary school caused by work to build new classrooms.

Headteacher Paul Platt said: “A church may not seem the most obvious place to have your maths lesson, but it has been a fantastic resource for us.

“While waiting for building work to start, we needed a place to teach the year five maths lessons, and Chris offered us the use of the church.

“It has meant we have been able to keep teaching the year fives as a class on their own and in a smaller group.”

Mr Park said: “It has been great to see the church used for such an unusual purpose. I hope the children enjoy learning in the church and it brings something different to their usual lessons.”