A CHURCH which features on a list of 'heritage at risk' has won a £152,000 grant for much-needed repairs.

Grade II-star listed St Clement’s church in Barkerend, Bradford, is celebrated as a fine example of an Arts and Crafts interior, with a colourful chancel ceiling decorated by famed designers Morris and Co.

But this ceiling has been unlit for more than five years because some of the building's electrics are unsafe.

Now the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded the grant money to secure the future of the church, in Barkerend Road.

The cash will pay for a proper lighting scheme for the feature, as well as funding major works to the roof, gutters, windows and the west doors.

Priest-in-charge, the Rev Dale Barton, welcomed the news.

He said: "We are grateful to Heritage Lottery Fund for their help in preserving this wonderful building for use in one of the most deprived neighbourhoods of the UK."

Rev Barton said the ceiling was very rare, with "maybe two or three others like it in the country", but was currently being lit with stage lights because the electrics in that part of the building had been deemed unsafe.

St Clement's features on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register, but Rev Barton said once work was complete, it should come off the list.

And he said the grant should also help to encourage visitors.

Rev Barton said St Clement's was already very popular with local school groups, with more than 300 children visiting the church last year as part of their RE programmes.

But he said the building "ought to be known about more widely", and the grant would allow them to improve its website and develop a visitor guide.

Rev Barton said the church had a growing congregation and, in particular, was attracting refugees and asylum seekers who had recently arrived in Bradford.

He said while it was primarily used for Christian worship, the church was increasingly becoming a place where people of all backgrounds could mix, as it now hosted up to 10 community groups a month.

He said: "We are one of the few buildings in this neighbourhood where actually people meet across race, faith and cultural boundaries. We think we are doing a great job for the people of this city."

Fiona Spiers, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "St Clement’s is a prominent and much loved Bradford landmark that provides a very powerful visual connection with our past.

"It’s a unique building that brings people together for a variety of reasons from worship through to culture and leisure.

"This National Lottery award will help secure the immediate future of the church, reinforcing its place at the heart of the community, whilst also letting people learn more about its heritage and stories."