PLANS for the Moravian Church refurbishment in Malmesbury are well under way.

More than 250 residents looked around the derelict church at open days held recently by the Friends of Athelstan Museum, who recently purchased the building for an expansion of the museum.

Roger Griffin, who has been heavily involved with organising the renovation of the building for the Friends, said: “We have processed the comments received and they will help us formulate our plans and endorse the backing of the community.”

Fundraising for the work continues, however the group are still awaiting to receive some of the money pledged by members of the public towards the project.

The Friends have submitted an application for a grant under the Leader scheme, which is European Community funded and designed to help rural economies.

They have also appointed an architect, Jonathon Rixon, to draw up some plans for the building, which have been submitted to Wiltshire Council for listed building consent, and they have gone out to tender to builders.

Speaking about the progress with the plans, Mr Griffin said: “We’ve not been idle. We shall now tweak the plans in light of input from the planners and others and then having chosen the builder start work but we suspect that will not be till next year.”

Further updates will follow as they are received.