A CHURCH is opening a £50,000 extension next month as part of a project to help vulnerable and elderly people in the community.

St John's Church, in Neasham Road, Darlington, has renovated its vestry and kitchen to house a lunch club for people in the Bank Top area.

The improved facilities will be available to people in need of support and also to local organisations.

The extension has been funded by the National Lottery, the Bank Top Community Partnership and money raised by the church, and will be opened on April 8.

Plans to upgrade the vestry began nearly two years ago and have come to fruition under the church's rector, the Rev Mike Dent.

He said: "It was first discussed before I arrived 18 months ago. We needed to improve it anyway because some of the facilities did not comply with the 2004 disability act. In the old church, the existing vestry was not that large. We had two very small toilets which were not up to standard and a very small kitchen."

The new vestry will be able to hold up to 70 people following a £10,000 donation from Bank Top Community Partnership and a £24,000 grant from the Community Lottery Fund.

The day after the opening, the church will be open to the public from 10am until 4pm.