A CHURCH in High Wycombe has shut its doors to worshippers to enable essential repair and upgrade work to be carried out.

Canon Tony Dickinson said 84 years of St Francis Church being battered by the elements had taken its toll on the building.

A six-figure grant from English Heritage will enable the church council to improve drainage and replace the damaged plaster.

Flood damage will be repaired and the windows will be treated during the three month revamp.

In the meantime, the church will hold its services in the adjoining Church Hall in Amersham Road.

Canon Dickinson, Vicar of Terriers, said: “This temporary move will remind us that a church is much more than a building, however striking and beautiful it may be.

“The church is the people of God, gathering to worship around the Lord’s table on the Lord’s day.”