BEER, wine and spirits are always on offer at the Poplar Club in Accrington but at the moment regulars are being offered that something extra - in the form of prayer.

For when the congregation of Christ Church was in desperate need of somewhere to worship, the Wellington Street club came to the rescue and offered them the use of their ballroom for free.

So yesterday, instead of standing behind the altar to give his weekly sermon, the Reverend Kevin Logan spoke standing in front of the bar.

The situation came about after damage to the church roof led to the building being deemed temporarily unsafe.

Mr Logan said: "Our ceiling has suddenly started bulging.

"Three of the screws have come loose in the metal panels in the roof and could possibly be put down to a combination of the vibration caused by the restructuring work we are having done and the gales we have had since Christmas.

"It is 40 feet up and the architect could not give us a guarantee that the roof would not come down further.

"We noticed it starting to bulge last week and we were given the advice to move out on Thursday.

"If it had come down and hurt someone it would have been unforgiveable.

"Luckily the club offered us somewhere to hold the Sunday service and we really appreciate that.

"The first service was certainly different and I think only one or two people found it difficult. Everyone was very grateful to the club.

"At the moment we are very much like the ceiling - just left hanging, wondering what is going to happen.

"What has been nice is that we have changed our church to try to help the community and now when we are in need they have rallied around for us."

The mother and toddler group has been cancelled until further notice and other activities such as committee groups, the AA group and the weekly coffee morning will be held in the vicarage.

Mr Logan added: "We are hoping that the building contractors will be coming up with a solution this week either to make it safe so that we can use the building or to do a quick repair and replacement of the ceiling.

"We are also praying that we will be able to claim on the insurance because it will be quite a costly job, costing several thousand pounds."

Work is currently under way on the church, in co-ordination with Sure Start, to create a children's centre which will provide childcare and training facilities.