Haggs church closed for safety reasons

St Luke’s Roman Catholic Church in Garngrew Road, Haggs was shut with immediate effect after rot was discovered in the building. The problem was discovered last week.

Parish priest Canon Pat Boylan said: “We needed to replace a set of fire exit doors in the church and discovered rot in the frame of the building. A structural engineer was called in on January 11 to investigate the extent of the problem. The following day he sent a report to the church recommending closing the church building for safety reasons.

"We did this immediately and currently we are holding Mass in the general purpose room while further investigation takes place. We simply have to wait and see what happens next.”

In April next year it will mark half a century since the church first opened for services.