VANDALISM and lack of funds have forced a Methodist church to close its doors after more than 150 years.

Members of the Methodist church in Collingwood Street, Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, met last week and agreed their only option was closure.

Doreen Wigham, the church's family committee secretary, said it was a sad time but they could no longer go on.

The church will close after the service on February 3.

She said a combination of things, including a dwindling congregation and vandalism had forced the decision.

"Over the years, the vandalism has got increasingly worse. We have kids on the roof at the back of the church constantly,'' she said.

"We just cannot keep on top of the building costs for everything.''

The 15 to 20 people regularly attending services are all that is left of more than 150 years of Methodism in Coundon and the neighbouring villages of Westerton, Leeholme and Leasingthorne.

The church in Collingwood Street is the oldest and last to survive of three Methodist churches in the village. It was built in 1844.

The Victoria Lane Church closed in the 1960s, followed by a second in Howlish Terrace in the 1970s.

Mrs Wigham, 53, has been attending the church since she was three.

Her mother, Mary Jaques, 93, has been a staunch Methodist church supporter for 90 years. Mrs Jaques and fellow churchgoer Lydia Teasdale, also 93, are the oldest members of the church's congregation.