Plans have been revealed to turn a boarded up church in west Cumbria into supported living accommodation.

HB Villages is behind plans to turn Workington's Trinity Methodist Church on South William Street into 22 supported living residential flats.

Plans have been submitted to Allerdale council to retain the facade of the church and convert the building into flats for vulnerable people.

Agent for the applicant Peter Winter, head of planning at PFK Planning, said: "The church is visible from many parts of the town and in the pre-planning phase with Allerdale council we agreed it needed retained as much as possible, that's why we're planning on maintaining the front of the building.

"It will be quite expensive to do but both sides feel it's worth doing.

"It's a very impressive building, but it's not listed or in a conservation area.

"The accommodation will be run by HB Villages, who are specialists provider of this type of housing."

Mr Winter added the company were also behind plans to turn the Viaduct Hotel in town into flats to house 16 adults with either learning or physical disabilities.

He added: "It will help support the community. It's a fantastic opportunity, it's a huge space and other uses for it are very limited or already catered for in the town."

The Rev Richard Skinner, superintendent Methodist minister, said: "We're pleased that the church will be looked after and there won't be any safety concerns with the front of the building. It looks onto the road and with high winds it could cause problems.

"I'm pleased that it's going to be used for that kind of housing."

Andrew Lawson, who represents the ward on the town council, said it was a brilliant idea to turn the church into supported living accommodation.

He said: "I don't know the exact details of the plans, but in principle it's a brilliant idea to have supported living for people.
"I'm supportive of the project, the people of Workington and West Cumbria will benefit from it.

"It's great that they're planning to retain the front of the church, it's such an iconic building and it's part of our heritage."

Trinity church was sold last year to Woodrow Construction, after being on the market for many years.

In 2013 publican Paul Scott submitted ambitious plans to convert the church into a theatre to Allerdale council, but the plans fell through.

The church was built in around 1898 and has been boarded up.