PLANS have been submitted to convert an empty West Somerset Methodist church into a two-bedroom home.

The Roadwater church, built in 1907 and recognised as an ‘undesignated heritage asset’, has been empty for several years and recently sold at auction for redevelopment.

Planning agent Adam Elston, of Architectural Studio SW, said: “Church use has been in decline for decades due to poor attendance and financial strain.

“A larger, more appropriately located St Giles Church is nearby in Leighland.”

Mr Elston said the church was surrounded by a mixture of modern and traditional buildings, with the Watersmeet Close estate to the south.

The conversion would not involve any changes to its outside appearance with its Gothic front gable, stone arched windows, and Gothic-style finials and buttresses.