Volunteers call for help to save Leeds church left in 'dire straits'

Volunteers are calling for council chiefs to step in and help save a Leeds church that has been left in 'dire straits'.
St John's church in Rounday.St John's church in Rounday.
St John's church in Rounday.

Volunteers are calling for council chiefs to step in and help save a Leeds church that has been left in “dire straits”.

The Friends of Roundhay St John’s Church have raised fresh concerns about the state of the building, trees and churchyard at St John’s Church.

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The Grade II listed church, on Wetherby Road, has fallen into disrepair since being sold in 2010 for a nominal £1 to the Pentecostal City Mission (PCM), a small-London based Evangelical church.

Now the volunteer group, set up to look after the church and its grounds, is submitting a petition to Leeds City Council and is calling for help to save the site.

Caroline Feeman, founder of the Friends group, said: “Our chairperson, Lynne Staveley, is to present the Friends’ concerns to the council, which includes a petition of hundreds of signatures of people who feel that the church should be saved before it’s too late.

“St John’s is in dire straits presently due to a hole in the roof which has allowed rain to enter the church since July 2016.”

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A Leeds City Council spokesman said the authority has recently issued an enforcement order, after intervening “significantly” since 2011 to get the church’s owners to make repairs.

The spokesman said: “On several occasions we have had to take action against them for failing to maintain the property and undertake repairs to a reasonable standard.

“We will also look at the petition to consider what further we can do to protect this important local building.”

The YEP contacted the PCM but no-one was available to comment.