A baptist minister in Haworth has come up with a novel way to bring people flocking to church.

The Reverend Chris Upton is planning to turn his West Lane church into a cinema as part of the village's Fairtrade Fortnight celebrations.

The celebrations will get off to a lip-smacking start with author Joanne Harris putting in a celebrity guest appearance at the church on Saturday, March 5, for a screening of Chocolat - a the film inspired by her book of the same title.

Tickets for the event, on sale at £10, are limited and organisers were so worried that no-one feels left out that they are planning to re-screen the film, without Joanne, the following day for free.

Minister Chris Upton said: "We don't want anyone to feel as though they've missed out so they can just turn up on the Sunday and watch it again.

"We won't be selling tickets but we'll probably ask for a donation to go towards Fairtrade's funds. If I get enough people knocking at the door, we might even put on a matinee showing on the Sunday as well, although we'd have to find a way of blacking out all the windows to keep it dark."

It won't be the first time that the church, in the Fairtrade registered village of Haworth, has undergone a "conversion".

Since it was refurbished seven years ago, it has often been used by community groups as a social hub and has even been hired in the past by followers of the Brontes who have showed films based on the books written by the sisters, including the original Wuthering Heights.

Mr Upton said: "We're really pleased that the church is used in so many different ways to bring the community in through our doors. It would be crazy to have such a wonderful space left empty most of the week."

Haworth was of the first places in the country to achieve Fairtrade Village status. The title is given once a guaranteed proportion of a village's (or town's or city's) retail and catering outlets sell or use Fairtrade, tea, coffee, chocolate or other products.

One of the Fairtrade Fortnight organisers, Rita Verity, who runs a Fairtrade shop in the village, said there was lots of excitement about Joanne Harris's visit.

"We're delighted she has agreed to come and are doubly delighted that she's agreed to donate her fee to the Fairtrade pot," she said.

Interest is growing rapidly in the Fairtrade movement which first came to the UK ten years ago. Under the scheme, the producer receives a price, guaranteed for an agreed time, which is sufficient to feed a family, educate children and buy enough medicine to keep them healthy. There are now 140 Fairtrade products including grapes, wine, sugar, snackbars, cocoa and chocolate.

Anyone interested in tickets to see Joanne Harris in Haworth should telephone Rita Verity on (01535) 647776.