A CHURCH hoping for a £10,000 grant for vital improvements has been left hanging on.

Freshbrook Church applied to West Swindon Parish Council for the sum to fix its lighting and heating.

But councillors said they needed to be sure it was a 'community' building at not privately owned before granting the cash.

Parish councillor Trish Philpot supports the bid and said: “The community uses the church for lots of different activities, so it is a community building.

“And it is used for lots of different groups, including the night shelter and for toddler groups.

“We do need to know if the building belongs to a trust or a private company. We need to use the money that the parish council has wisely.

“If the building is owned privately then the person who owns the building should be paying for repairs. That’s why we need to know.”

Church administrator Stephen Cox confirmed that the building is owned by the church, which is a charity.

He said: “The heating is not working properly so the building is frequently cold.

"We have about 40 different groups hiring it. We also want to change the lighting. Lights are inefficient and offer a poor quality of light.”

Stephen said the work will be completed within three months if the grant was awarded.