REDUNDANT pews created by a renowned church furniture maker have been made available for sale.

But bids for the two pew benches, capable of seating five to six church-goers, must be lodged before midnight tomorrow (Tuesday June 30).

The pews, from the nave of St Mary Magdalene Church, in Belmont, near Durham, have become “surplus to requirement” and removed to make more space for wheelchair and push chair access.

But rather than just put them in storage, or give them away, parish vicar Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes decided to boost church building funds by making them available for sale.

She asked for sealed bids to be lodged with the church by the end of June.

The bids will be opened on Wednesday (July 1), with the pews to go to whoever emerges as having made the highest offer.

Dr Threlfall-Holmes said: “They’re not the sort of thing you can put on ebay, because they’re too bulky to post, so really it had to be the sort of sale where someone locally is able to come and pick them up.”

She believes that like much of the other furniture in the 150-year-old church, the pews were made by the celebrated craftsman Robert ‘Mousey’ Thompson, at his workshops in Kilburn, North Yorkshire.

But, unlike, some of his more famous pieces, three of which are elsewhere in St Mary Magdalene, they come without his signature church mice carvings.

“If they did they would probably be worth a lot more,“ she added.

Late bids can be made for the pews by email to miranda@threlfall-holmes.net, before midnight on Tuesday (June 30).

The winner will be notified on Wednesday.