A RUN-down community centre is to be given a new lease of life by a church group.

After more than a decade of renting school halls and community centre rooms, Aycliffe Evangelical Church has bought a permanent base in Newton Aycliffe.

The church will spend about £150,000 refurbishing Greenfield Meeting Hall to hold worship and activities for the wider community.

Former owners Sedgefield Borough Council could not justify spending substantial cash on a building which was being used less and less.

After extensive talks on how to save the building as a community resource, the sale was completed on Friday, with the condition that the church upgrades it within a year.

Aycliffe Evangelical Church was founded in 1989 and, for the past seven years, the 50-strong congregation has met every Sunday in Sugar Hill Lower School, Sheraton Road.

Pastor John Rubens said members were looking forward to moving to the hall and becoming an active part of the community.

He said: "It will take some time before we can move in, but we are happy about acquiring the hall.

"We hope this will help us strengthen our identity in the town and give us space to do other things - maybe with older people, youngsters and mother and toddler groups.

"Our work is Bible-based but it is also about the community and we want to engage in and serve the community."

Councillors hope the sale will prevent further vandalism and improve the appearance of the neighbourhood.

Sedgefield Borough Councillor Vince Crosby, a trustee of the Greenfield Community Association, said: "I've every confidence in John and the church will be a positive asset to the area and, with occupants and security at the hall, the risk of vandalism and anti-social behaviour should decrease."