WORSHIPPERS have given their church a grand entrance by creating a garden in memory of former villagers.

The entrance to Auckland Park Methodist Church has been transformed by eight members of its congregation.

Alma Reeve, from the church, said: "We wanted to do something to tidy up the front of the church and thought it would be nice to have a memorial garden.

"We wrote to people in the community asking for donations.

"At the opening on Sunday we had people from York, Middlesbrough and Thornley, all people who used to live in the village and wanted to be part of it."

Mrs Reeve and her husband, Eric, spent a long rainy day with fellow volunteers Brian and Emily Errington, Jackie and Alan Bailey, Mac Goddard and Freda Martin, planting the shrubs and shovelling six tons of gravel. A plaque has also been laid to remember the friends and family of Auckland Park.

The garden is part of regeneration work at the church, where a kitchen and toilets have been installed.

The Reverend Andrew Robinson, Auckland Park Methodist Church minister, said: "We have achieved so much with the building and now what has been done out here is brilliant."