Parishioners – some now in their 90s – have made their weekly visit to the place of worship and taken an active role in the pastoral running of the church.

Now, after a catastrophic building report and a slow decline in the number of worshippers, the building is set to become the latest in a wave of church closures across Lancashire.

Walmer Bridge Methodist Chapel is the only Christian presence in the village, but with a tiny congregation of just 16 elderly worshippers its future was looking shaky.

Parishioners were faced with the difficult decision of how to manage the pastoral roles within the church – a task which was becoming increasingly challenging.

When news came this year that the building was plagued with dry rot – a costly problem which would land the little community hub with a mammoth £40,000 repair bill – the fate of the village church was sealed.

The Rev Derek Oldham, the minister for the church and also neighbouring Longton and New Longton Methodist Chapels, says: "Over the last few years people have been pondering over the future and, in a sense, now the building has decided for them.

"In one sense it is a blessing because they don't have to make that decision for themselves – it has been taken for them."

Read the rest of this feature in Friday's Lancashire Evening Post