WORK has started on a £300,000 project to create a new space for youngsters at a Witney church.

The High Street Methodist Church has been fundraising to revamp its former school building at the rear of the church for two years.

The project will see four rooms stripped to brickwork and new flooring, plastering, windows, doors and furnishings installed.

Church leaders hope the work will create a new space for the community that can be used by youth and children’s projects.

The scheme is phase one of a project to revamp the entire building.

A £450,000 fundraising drive for phase two will be launched later this year.

Church minister the Rev Richard Donoghue said: “I have to say it sometimes seemed like really hard work but it feels great now the building is started.

“The first time I walk through the doors to the new building is going to be a really special moment. It will feel as though we would have really achieved something here, something, hopefully, that will be of long-term benefit not just to the church but to the town in general.”

The building was first used by the Wesleyan Methodist School from the 1850s but closed in 1953 and became part of Wood Green School.

During the 1980s it was used by The King’s School until its new premises were built in New Yatt Road three years ago.

Mr Donoghue said: “We have been trying to raise money since then to refurbish the building. The vision is that it becomes a place available for general community use but with a particular emphasis on children and young people.

“We are concerned as a church that we have an awful lot of children, young people and families who use our building, but do not have a real interface with them. This will open up an additional space and enable us to offer more services to them.”

He said the new facility, which will open in September, could be used as a youth club or by children’s groups, including those already using the church.

He added: “Our building is also under significant pressure at the moment, despite the fact it is very large.

“Since the closure of the Corn Exchange in particular it has been much more difficult for us to accommodate everyone, so we need more space.”

The Corn Exchange public hall in Market Square was well used by community and theatre groups but was closed in 2011 following safety concerns.

The Methodist Church project has received a total of £50,000 from landfill grants organisation Wren and West Oxfordshire District Council, but £130,000 was raised through events and fundraising by the church community itself.

Fundraising for the second phase of the project is expected to take at least two years.