A leading clergyman claims failure to demolish Bingley's Mornington Road Methodist Church will jeopardise the future of Methodism in the town.

Peter Whittaker, chairman of the West Yorkshire Methodist circuit, said: "Mornington Road has been sapping the people of Bingley for 25 years. I am worried that any further delay will put in jeopardy the Methodist congregation.

"It was built when the mills were put up and was part of a culture that has gone. To serve the present age is what we are after. Not to do so will finish off our work of witness."

He was responding after reports from English Heritage and the Ancient Monuments Society criticised the Methodists' planned demolition in letters to Bradford planners.

Trevor Mitchell, inspector of Historic Buildings Conservation Team, said in one of the reports: "The current application does not in my view demonstrate that a convincing case has been made in favour of demolition."

He concludes that "the application be deferred pending a fresh marketing campaign which offers the freehold at a nominal price".

Matthew Saunders, secretary of the Ancient Monuments Society, writes: "Mornington Road Methodist Church is just too good to be destroyed.

"We do not underestimate the problems involved in saving the church. However, we are convinced that Bingley would be extraordinarily short-sighted to throw away such a building."

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