Plans to move historic St Laurence Church could cost millions and take up to a year to complete, an expert has warned.

As part of Southend Airport's long-awaited expansion, the church in Eastwoodbury Lane, Eastwood, will have to be shifted 100 metres as part of new safety restrictions.

The Civil Aviation Authority believes the 1,000-year-old church would be too close to safety zones needed at either end of the runway in case planes overshoot or land too early.

Engineering consultant John Pryke said: "You are not talking about it costing £200,000 or £300,000. You are talking about a million or two."

In his career, Mr Pryke has moved a timber-framed manor in Sudbury, the chapel at Great Ormond Street Hospital and a 3,000-ton building in Norway.

He spoke of the difficulties of moving the church, but stressed the operation had been around for years.

The 73-year-old - a member of the institutions of civil and structural engineering - said: "You couldn't move the floor of the building easily because it's resting on the ground but you can move all the walls and everything above floor level."

He explained the first stage would be to create a "chassis" underneath the walls of the building and turn it into something like a "railway carriage" - sparking the first problem.

According to worshippers, there are graves beneath flagstones inside the church which could be disturbed by building the "chassis".

However, Mr Pryke insisted it would still be possible to build the "chassis" under the building's walls unless there were graves directly underneath. He said: "Moving graves is a complicated business. You have to get permission, they would be dug up and then re-interred."

Next a track would be needed to slide the building from its current position to a new location 100m closer to Aviation Way.

The track would need supporting to hold the weight of the building so piles - underground support pillars - would have to be pounded into the earth.

Finally, the building would be raised up and then moved along the track before being lowered into its new location.

He said: "From giving someone the order to start, the job of moving the building would take about a year."

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