AN appeal to repair part of York Minster where generations of choristers have trained has soared passed its target.

The York Minster Fund aimed to raise£100,000 for repairs to the stonework and roof of the Camera Cantorum. The total has now passed £110,000, providing additional funding for the restoration of the building.

It comes on top of £300,000 allocated from the Government’s First World War Cathedrals Repair Fund.

Dr Peter Spence, director of the York Minster Fund said: “We launched the appeal in our Christmas 2014 newsletter. It was important to raise the funds quickly to allow the work to the Camera Cantorum to proceed.

"But I was quite unprepared for the speed with which our supporters responded. We are enormously grateful to all those who rose to the challenge."

Dating from 1415 and located on the south side of the Minster, the Camera Cantorum is a two-storey structure, which currently houses the Minster shop and the Minster Song School and is where generations of choristers have been trained.

Twelve former choristers and an Alto singer were killed on active service in the First World War.

The York Minster Fund was originally established in the 1960s to raise money for urgent repairs and conservation to the Minster’s Central Tower.