Historical Wolverhampton Methodist church holds final service Published duration 29 September 2019

image caption Methodists have been gathering at Darlington Street Methodist Church for nearly 120 years

A historical Methodist church in Wolverhampton has held its last service after expensive repair bills meant it could no longer stay open.

The Grade II listed Darlington Street Methodist Church in the city centre said it would cost between £3m and £5m to restore the building.

It is also facing a falling number of worshippers.

Rev Christopher Collins, the church's minster, said the final service had been "very emotional".

image caption The final service was "very emotional", Rev Christopher Collins said

The church, on the corner of Darlington Street and School Street, opened at the turn of the 20th Century.

"There's a lot of history and memories in this building and people don't want to let that go," Mr Collins said.

"Also we've been together as a group of people for a long time and that's hard to let go of as well."

Among the list of works and repairs are a new roof, a new heating system and new windows.

The church has "explored a lot of options" to stay open, Mr Collins said, but had made the "brave decision" to leave the building.

He hopes that the building can be used to help the local community in the future, and the church has invited worshippers, past and present, to share their memories of the church.