£1.3m facelift for Grade II listed Worcester church

Only occasional services are held at the church, which sits on Worcester's High Street

A Grade II listed church in the centre of Worcester is getting a £1.3m renovation in a bid to "save our nation's heritage".

The Churches Conservation Trust hopes to make St Swithun's a city landmark.

Only occasional services are held at the venue but it is hoped it will become a focus of community life.

Isabel Assaly from the trust said: "It's a lot of money, but in the sense of saving our nation's heritage, in the long-run it's not."

"Churches have always been the main focus of community life... their role went far beyond a religious role; they are the centre of community life," she said.

The trust said people in Worcester did not want to see the High Street church closed because of its "rare, intact Georgian interior".