ONE of York's most distinctive churches and spires is facing demolition after an inspection revealed a host of major defects.

The problems at St Laurence Parish Church in Lawrence Street - which would cost at least half a million pounds to repair have been revealed after a section of pinnacle blew down from the spire in Monday's storms.

Unlike the tragic accident at All Saints Church in Pavement, in which pinnacle masonry fell and struck a woman tourist on the head with fatal consequences, no one was injured at St Laurence's.

But the area below has now been cordoned off for safety reasons until a steeplejack can get up the spire.

The defects revealed in the church inspection include:

* Dry rot in the roof timbers.

* Decayed high-level stonework.

* An inoperable heating system.

* Condemned electrical wiring.

The architect who conducted the inspection concluded that the total bill for repairs was unlikely to come to less than £500,000.

Parishioners have been told there would be little possibility of grant aid, and even if some were available, the church would still have to match it pound-for-pound.

Now the parochial church council has decided the sum is "unattainable."

And it intends to close the church and build a new one, suited to the needs of present and future worshippers and community.

"We are sad we can no longer support a building which has been our parish church for over a century," said the PCC in a statement.

"However, we look forward to the prospect of having a new building - though we realise there is a long, hard road to travel before we can achieve this."

A public meeting, to be chaired by the Archdeacon of York, the Very Reverend Richard Seed, has been called for Tuesday, February 26, to discuss the way forward.

The church will be open from 6.30pm to give people a chance to look round, before the meeting starts at 7.30pm.

Treasurer Brian Fletcher said the possibility of grants from English Heritage and from the National Lottery had been explored but applications had been turned down.

He said a key problem was that the church was grade two listed. If it had been grade one or grade two * listed, it would have been entitled to major grant support for repairs.

He added that the future make-up and boundaries of all parishes in the York area, including St Laurence, were currently being investigated by an Archbishop's Commission.

Acting PCC chairman Clive Jackson said he did not believe Monday's masonry fall was caused by decaying stonework.

Updated: 08:49 Thursday, January 31, 2002