Allerton church is closed by dry rot repairs (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Allerton church is closed by dry rot repairs

7:00am Monday 22nd October 2012 in News By James Rush, T&A Reporter

A Bradford church has had to undergo emergency repair work, forcing a children’s centre to temporarily relocate to a nearby school.

Allerton Children’s Centre is to hold its sessions at Ley Top Primary School, in Avenel Road, until Christmas while repair work is carried out at Allerton Methodist Church.

Work at the church was required to repair the damage caused by a case of dry rot.

Dave Morrison, head of the children’s centre, said he made the decision to ask the school if they could hold their services in their building to protect the health of the parents and children attending.

He said: “The church has unfortunately had a case of dry rot.

“Because we had to have repairs done to the building, due to the dry rot, we had to evacuate the building.

“We couldn’t have children, babies and parents in the building during the repair work. It was unhealthy and unsafe.

“So I took the decision, as the head of the centre, and we also did a risk assessment, and then we contacted Ley Top Primary School to ask if we could move back into the school to do all our services there, certainly for the next six weeks.”

Mr Morrison said he hoped the children’s services would be moving back into the church after the work was completed by Christmas.

The children’s centre was set up in 2007 and was initially based in two converted classrooms at Ley Top Primary School.

Mr Morrison said in the last five years, as demand for the centre’s services had grown, it moved services to the church.

Mr Morrison said the move was unfortunate, but did not alter what was on offer to local parents and children.

“We are still able to provide the same level of quality care as before, although it’s a shame we’ve had to move,” he said.

He praised Ley Top Primary School its assistance.

“Everyone involved has been so helpful,” Mr Morrison said.