Parishoners are set to bid farewell to a Cleator Moor church at its final service on Sunday.

For over 140 years, St John’s Church, on Crossfield Road, has served the community as a place of worship.

But this weekend, the long-standing church will close its doors for the last time.

A final service will be held at the church on Sunday, from 10am, and will be led by Richard Pratt, archdeacon of West Cumbria.

The closure marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, says Rev Allen Banks, the rural dean for Calder Deanery.

Although the historic church is closing, the congregation are still set to worship in the nearby church hall.

The Rev Allen Banks said the reasons for the church closure is “purely financial”.

“It needs a lot of money spent on it repairing and replacing the roof,” he said.

St John’s Church was consecrated in June 1872, and is Anglo-Norman in style. The building, which is grade two listed, has a church tower measuring 68 feet high.

There has been months of uncertainty about the future of the church. It had been due to close last year, but the closure was postponed.

Rev Banks says the separate church hall, which is located behind the church, is already used for a host of community activities such as painting classes and yoga.

The hall does not have any steps leading up to it so it will be more accessible to parishioners, he said.

Services will continue to be held in this hall.

Next month, the congregation is set to welcome the Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev James Newcome, who will be visiting a service on April 30, from 10.30am.