A VILLAGE church is planning a £250,000 overhaul.

Father John Salter, parish priest of Wantage, wants to install a new kitchen with a stained glass window, under-floor heating, and disabled toilets for the first time at Charlton Church of the Holy Trinity.

In order to fund that work, he will need to sell the 19th century parish hall next door, built in 1850 as a school for the then-hamlet of Charlton.

The hall has not been used as a school for about 50 years and now the cost of insurance and maintenance means it is costing the church more than it is making.

Father John, pictured outside the parish hall, said: “The hall isn’t listed and disabled access is impossible because of a flight of steps.

“Meanwhile, the church building has no modern facilities such as disabled toilets.

“The plan is to change the church into a building which can be used by the whole community.”

To sell the hall, Father John will first have to get planning permission for it to be used as a home.

He has applied for permission from Vale of White Horse District Council, and the council is due to make its decision on January 10.