THE minister of St Mary's in Sheering has vowed that church life will carry on despite a devastating blaze which almost completely destroyed its historic medieval building last night.

Speaking to the Guardian, Reverend Brian Surtees confirmed that the Grade I listed structure will be "unusable" for the foreseeable future, and may even have to be partly demolished due to the extent of the damage.

He said: "At the moment it is too early to know the full effect the fire had - we are waiting for a structural survey to see if repairs can be done.

"It is unusable and we won't be able to use the church again until there have been some very extensive repairs."

In the meantime the plan is to use the church hall for all services and events.

Despite being devastated by last night's events, Rev Surtees said he had been left heartened by the support of the community, the work of the fire brigade and by resident Carol Gibson, who alerted the authorities after spotting the blaze by chance while out walking her dog.

He said: "We are most grateful to her for what she did. Everyone I've spoken to is full of admiration for her.

"She very promptly called the fire brigade and then called us. We will never be able to say thank you enough."

He added: "I'm terribly upset about it. It's a beautiful building that has been at the centre of so many people's lives, and has so much significance as a place where many people's weddings and funerals have taken place.

"It has always been an integral part of the community."