Work has finally been given the green light to start to repair a church in Furness.

In January this year St Peter's Church on Ireleth Brow in Askam launched a fundraiser for £40,000 to help fix damages that the building had sustained.

Now, months later, the church has confirmed that work can begin this week on the section of the building that saw scaffolding set up over four years ago.

Read more: St Peter's Church needs £40,000 to repair building damages | The Mail (nwemail.co.uk)

Church Warden Beverley Louw said: "Thank you to everyone who has helped along the way, it has been a journey which has taken a lot of patience.

"We are still a bit of a way off transforming St Peter's and ensuring we hold a Christian community in Ireleth and Askam.

"Our next fundraiser to save St Peter's is coming up which we would love to see everyone at and share in a wonderful evening as a community."

Scaffolding has been up for over four years at the churchScaffolding has been up for over four years at the church (Image: Google Maps)

This event, branded as a 'Fizzy Friday', will take place at Askam Rugby Club on September 20 from 6.30pm.

It will be an evening of food, prosecco and live entertainment, with Stu Redfern set to delight church supporters.

Entry will cost £20, including a glass of prosecco and access to the buffet, with all proceeds going towards the St Peter's fund.

To get your tickets and show your support for the local project, you can call Beverley on 07841 380801.

Problems for the church started back in 2016 though substantial work was carried out to deal with recurring leaks.

The building still has water ingress on the east side of the church, but the main focus of the fundraiser is to repair the west-end gable, which was affected by subsidence.

Roof tiles and coping stones were said to be threatening to slide off, but work was unable to be carried out due to a lack of funds.

It now appears that the church is taking a step in the right direction, though the backing of the local community is needed more than ever.

You can donate to the cause by visiting the St Peter's fundraising page here.