The future is looking brighter for a Cockermouth church which once faced closure.

Three years ago it was thought that All Saints' Church, off Kirkgate, might have to be sold because of falling congregation numbers and soaring bills.

But is has since received a £70,000 legacy from a Workington man who had connections with the church.

And now is has accepted an offer on its nearby Saints Rooms. Its sale will provide funding to improve the church and make it more accessible to the community.

It is hoped the money will enable the church to raise more money from match funding grants.

Treasurer Stuart Hoddinott said: "There's a big sense of relief. At one point it was on the point of closure. Now we can make All Saints' come back to life for the community.

"When the option first came up of us selling the church and moving into the Saints Rooms, there was a lot of feelings from Slatefell people who felt it was their church, even if they didn't regularly attend and only went to weddings and funerals there."

While the church, which was built in 1853, is structurally sound, it needs improvements. Replastering and repointing work is expected to cost about £15,000.

Mr Hoddinott said the church also wanted to install toilets and improve the heating system.

There are also plans to create meeting rooms which can be used by the church and other groups.

Mr Hoddinott said: "We have spoken to an architect about the options.

"We don't want to lose the traditional version of All Saints' but we want to encourage more people to use the church, which we can do once we have decent meeting rooms, a community space and toilets.

"We would also like to increase our youth work. We have made links with All Saints' School and would like to expand on that."

Archdeacon Richard Pratt, who lead the working party set up three years ago to investigate how the church could be saved, said: "I'm really pleased that the church can move forward now, we're much more hopeful about the future."

The buyer of the Saints Rooms has not been disclosed.