COUNCILLORS will visit a disused church before they decide whether to approve plans to convert the listed building into a health and fitness centre.

Members of Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee agreed to make a site visit to St Luke's Church, in Sedgefield, when they met on Friday.

Chris Moore applied to the council for consent to continue with alteration work in the church.

She was granted permission to convert the building in June 2004 but, when officers visited in October that year, they ordered her to stop, believing work did not meet the conditions placed on the consent.

Officers recommended the committee to refuse the new application because Ms Moore's latest plans are more extensive than originally approved - including a second-floor mezzanine, a lift and a bar. They felt the current proposal "would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the building" and that, if refused, enforcement action should be taken to rectify the work.

Ms Moore believes her proposals are sympathetic to the Grade II-listed church, built in 1884, and bringing it back into use would enable more people to appreciate its architecture and cut anti-social behaviour.