THE Lord Mayor of York, Mick Bradley, helped to knock a new city church into shape.

Coun Bradley took part in a stonelaying ceremony at the site of the new church for Clifton Moor, on the corner of Oakdale Road and Rivilin Way. It is hoped the £346,000 project will be complete by August.

The Lord Mayor joined church members at a special service to mark the on-going progress of the building.

Coun Bradley unveiled the foundation stones of the church, which was set up in 1993 as a joint venture between Methodists and the Anglicans.

The congregation has been meeting for worship at Lakeside Primary School while funds for the new church were raised.

The City of York Council gave the church a 125-year lease on the Clifton Moor site for a peppercorn rent on the condition it will also be used as a community centre.

Richard Parker, project committee chairman, said he hoped the ceremony would act as a signal to the community that the church was well on its way to completion. He said: "It acknowledges that the builder has started."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.