COBHOLM residents have launched a campaign to save a much loved church amid fears it could close.

St Luke's in Mill Road has shut temporarily as it needs major electrical work along with several other repairs, and determined residents have now organised a meeting to gauge public feeling in a bid to safeguard the church from permanent closure.

Erika Chalkley, from neighbourhood development programme Make It Happen, said there was strong local feeling towards St Luke's and many people had fond memories of it.

'Everyone I bump into has got a story; they got married there or their children were christened there so there's a big strength of public feeling, and we wanted to hold a meeting to start a campaign to save the church to bring all those feelings together,' she added.

St Luke's Reverend Christopher Terry said the building needed an estimated �100,000 spent on it, which in 'reality' the church was unlikely to be able to raise.

'To raise �100,000 for that building is impractical,' he added.

The meeting is being held tomorrow (Friday) at 2pm at the Cobholm and Lichfield Health and Resource Centre in Pasteur Road.