A MINISTER has spoken of his relief after his church narrowly escaped being devastated by fire.
The fire at St Mary’s in Gowthorpe, Selby, is thought to have been started by an electrical fault but caused no visible damage.
Fr Anthony Wilson and cleaning staff were the only people in the church. They smelt burning coming from the roof space and alerted the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service who came immediately and extinguished the fire in just a couple of hours.
Fr Wilson said: “The fire could have been worse, but fortunately the fire and rescue service got there in time. Luckily there has been no real damage.”
A structural engineer gave the building the all clear and last weekend’s services went ahead as usual.
This weekend’s services for Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday will also go ahead as scheduled.
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