THE foundation stone has been laid for Blackburn’s new Spiritualist Church as the faith’s national head hopes it will boost already thriving congregations.

The ceremony followed a long saga over moving the building from its home in St Peter Street to the new site in Montague Street.

The deal last year paved the way for the completion of the town’s £7 million orbital route allowing the Wainwright ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ to finally have a destination.

It also allowed the Spiritualists to build a new church which will be rectangular with a dual-pitched roof and two-storey front elevation.

It will have floor-to-eaves windows and full height brick columns to liven up the front and rear of the new building constructed of red brick and tiles.

There will be 16 car park spaces for worshippers including two for disabled drivers.

After laying the stone and taking the ‘foundation ceremony’ the President of the Spiritualist National Union, Minister David Bruton said: “It was a wonderful experience.

“It is a great day to have a new Spiritualist church being built in Blackburn.

“The first building in the town was opened in 1901 and this is a sign of a strong and growing Spiritualist faith there.

“The current congregation is between 50 and 60 and we hope to see it grow especially with this new Church building.

“It is particularly exciting for our new church to be part of the regeneration of Blackburn Town Centre, along with the Cathedral Quarter development.

“I was really pleased to lay this foundation stone. This is a very exciting development for the Spiritualist Church in Blackburn. Our faith believes that death is not the end for us and shows that by using mediums to contact people after death.”

The new building is due for completion this year with the remaining stage of the orbital route linking Bolton Road to Preston Old Road between Freckleton Street and Montague Street due to be finished in 2014.

The development will also allow the completion of the knowledge zone around the college/university campus.