St Alkmunds church in Whitchurch has failed to secure a grant to be able to carry out repairs on the building.

Officials at the church applied for the grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund but it was refused after being considered not “urgent”.

The repairs are for the stone work on the building following an inspection last year.

Rev Judy Hunt said: “We need to secure the grant for the stonework. There are a lot of external stones that need attention or to be replaced which will cost well over £100,000. I would like to see minor changes being made too, like a disabled toilet in the church.

“We’ve had two out of three of the east stained glass windows restored. The third one is to be taken out next week and hopefully it will be back in before Christmas. Work on the new electrics in the tower has begun and we also need new bell ropes.”

Work at the church is well underway, as well as the three windows that are being restored, a new ramp was also added to the church last month. It is now more accessible to people in wheelchairs, scooters and for pushchairs.

The restoration of the windows is part of a £70,000 scheme and the new ramp cost more than £45,000.

Rev Hunt is looking elsewhere to secure another grant for the stonework to ensure the work gets done.