Pastor moves into motorhome to launch mobile church

Bishop Mick Fleming said his "church on wheels" will allow him to help people wherever they are, from inner-city areas to rural communities

A pastor who turned his back on a life of crime to help poor and homeless people has given away all his possessions and bought a camper van to "take his ministry to the streets".

Bishop Mick Fleming, also known as Pastor Mick, founded Church on the Street in Burnley after experiencing homelessness himself.

He said he has given up his rented home to live in a modest second-hand motorhome he calls his "church on wheels" as part of his mission to serve the UK's most vulnerable.

He said he believed that as the cost of living crisis deepened, his new "mobile ministry" would allow him to help people where they were - whether on housing estates, in city centres, or in rural areas.

Bishop Mick Fleming has given up his home to move into a motorhome and take "the church literally to the streets"

He said: "I kept reading in scripture about travelling light.

"When I prayed, I felt God was telling me to strip everything back, to give away even what little I had in terms of material possessions. So that's what I've done."

He added: "Living in a camper van will mean I can move to where people are hurting most - taking the church literally to the streets.

"It won't be easy, but I believe this is what I'm meant to do."

The move marks a new chapter in the extraordinary journey of the once-violent drug user and dealer who has fed and clothed hundreds of families.

"It's not just about me living in a van," he says. "It's about showing that church belongs out there with the people with the poor, the homeless, the ones who are struggling.

"It's about going to them and bringing the light of Christ."