AN historic church will go under the hammer later this week.

The grade-two listed Belgrave Chapel, on Bolton Road in Darwen town centre, is being auctioned off for around £150,000 on Thursday.

The new owner will have to finish turning the building into 15 flats - a project which has been in progress for a decade.

The present owner has built three of the flats and even made one of them his home.

But the man, whose identity has never been revealed, wants to off-load the building before he emigrates.

The church has endured a turbulent existence in recent times.

In the early 1980s, it ceased to be a place of religious worship after it fell into disrepair.

Crown Wallcoverings bought the building in 1982 with the intention of demolishing it and putting a car park in its place.

But after a two-day public inquiry in the early 1990s, the Department of Environment deemed the building of too much architectural and historical importance to be bulldozed.

The current owner bought the building from Crown, and mystery surrounded his intentions for several years.

The auction takes place at Lancashire County Cricket Club, Old Trafford, Manchester.