A Grade two listed church needs the support of the parish to complete repairs that are now possible thanks to a lottery grant.

Holy Trinity Church, Cowling, was awarded a grant of £74,000 towards a total of £105,000 needed for building work.

Work required on the church is to the tower, including a new roof, repointing the buttresses and repair to the internal floors.

Churchwarden Len Henley said: "We are absolutely delighted, and without the lottery award we would have been in serious trouble. There is no way we could have met the money involved. With a lot of prayers and English Heritage's help we can carry out these repairs."

Last year the church held fundraising events to replace the heating. But now it needs more support from villagers to supplement the lottery grant.

Mr Henley added: "We hope that the population round about and other people who want to see the church maintained will also back us, now that they see English Heritage are backing us.

"Hopefully, the funds will now snowball and we hope that the snowball does not melt at the end."

The church was one of six grade two places of worship in Yorkshire to be helped by £600,000 from the repair grants for places of worship scheme. The scheme is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage, and administered by English Heritage.

John Hinchliffe, English Heritage's acting regional director for Yorkshire, said: "Many churches in the region experience real difficulty in meeting maintenance costs, so these grants will make a big difference.

"Being able to make timely repairs often avoids a much bigger bill further down the road. We're delighted to be able to work with the Heritage Lottery Fund in offering this much needed support."

Ian Carstairs, Heritage Lottery Fund chairman for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "Yorkshire's churches and places of worship are hugely important for their architectural and historic value, but also provide local communities with a vital place to come together."

More money is still available for other listed places of worship. The deadline for grade one and grade two* buildings is June 30, and for grade two buildings on September 30.