A former methodist church building will be going under the hammer at an auction in Beccles next month.

Barnby Methodist Church has been put up for sale with a guide price of £100,000 and is being sold as a three-bedroom detached house.

The church closed for the final time on Christmas Eve 2014 due to a fall in the number of members, and an application to turn the building into a three-bedroom home was approved by Waveney District Council last October.

Originally built as a village hall for the first chapel which was situated next door, it became a combined church and meeting place in 1992 following the demolition of the previous building.

The methodist church will be sold as part of Durrants' Land and Property Auction on March 9. The catalogue for the auction describes the site as an 'unusual opportunity to create a unique house in a pleasant rural village location.'

The planning permission allows for the ground floor to be converted to a kitchen/dining area, entrance hall, three bedrooms with one ensuite, family bathroom and cloak room with a first floor living area. Outside there is a small garden area to the front and rear and space for two cars to the side.

Matthew Raven of Durrants, said: 'Planning permission was granted last year for conversion to a three bed dwelling with upstairs living accommodation, which retains the attractive façade.

'The property is now being offered for sale in our property auction on March 9, and offers a potential purchaser the opportunity to purchase this unique building and preserve it by turning it into their home.'

The church was closed following an open meeting in January 2014 where members of the community were asked to have their say on the future of the building. They were then given six months to see if they could get more people visiting and helping at the church, however numbers failed to improve.

Following the closure, a group of residents came together to form the Barnby North Cove Community Hall Group in a bid to reopen the church as a village hall. They held a meeting with Waveney MP Peter Aldous at the start of last year to gather support for their campaign, however the group disbanded in the summer.

A decision was then made by the Lowestoft and East Anglian Circuit to sell the church.

The auction will take place at Durrants Auction Rooms in Beccles from 3pm.

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