Selby Abbey was today celebrating Christmas early, thanks to a record-breaking donation to the historic church's restoration appeal.

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund will offer more than £400,000 to the Selby Abbey Appeal, taking the total raised to £3.5 million.

The donation is four times bigger than any received before, and the head of the fundraising drive today spoke of his delight.

Appeal director Brigadier Jeremy Gaskell, pictured, said: "This really is fantastic news.

"We are very grateful to English Heritage in York for supporting our bid right from the beginning. This is the biggest single donation we have received in the five years that the appeal has been running." An English Heritage spokesperson said the initial grant would be £25,000 for project development, followed by £392,000 once the project was in place. They declined to comment further until the grant had been formally offered and accepted.

The spokesperson said the offer would be sent this evening, but Brigadier Gaskell has already been informed by phone.

The money will go towards Phase Six of the Abbey programme, which will see the restoration of the Abbey scriptorium. The scriptorium is where monks copied out Biblical and spiritual and historical texts, helping to build up the libraries of the Middle Ages.

Work will start in the spring, once the current work on the South Choir Aisle is completed.

Brigadier Gaskell celebrated the news of the donation, but also sounded a cautionary note.

He said: "Whilst this is an obvious boost to everyone associated with the appeal, we are fully aware that we will probably need to raise a further £3.5 million if we are to complete the full repair programme.

"An enormous amount has been achieved, but there is still a long way to go."

Selby Abbey was the first abbey to be built in the north of England after the Norman Conquest, more than 900 years ago, but its limestone carvings and decorative stone have been slowly eaten away by pollution.

The Abbey Appeal was launched in 2000, with an original target of £4.2 million.

But in October 2004, it emerged much of the stonework was in a worse state than originally believed.

The final cost of restoration is now expected to be between £6 million and £7 million.

The World Monuments Watch was so concerned at the abbey's plight that it placed it on the list of the world's 101 most endangered historic sites in 2001.

Updated: 10:02 Thursday, December 22, 2005