A village church near Maldon is set to have its most extensive changes for more than 400 years.

All Saints' Church in Church Hill, Purleigh, has submitted plans to have a new meeting room, toilets and kitchen.

The church was built in the 1300s and has had no significant changes since a porch was built in the 16th century.

And churchwarden Pauline Potter said the alterations were long overdue.

She said: "Money has been made available in the church funds and if the plans get the go-ahead then I expect work will start next year.

"There is only a church and a small room used for storage and changing at the moment. We have several groups, including a thriving youth organisation, who have to meet in the church itself.

"Most of the time it's not very warm and comfortable and it's not the ideal environment to be holding formal or informal meetings.

"At the moment if members of the congregation want to go to the toilet they have to either go to the Bell pub or the homes of nearby residents. This is a particular problem for the elderly and mothers with small children."

She added: "I feel that there is a lot of potential at the church which will be realised if the application is approved. I think we may be able to attract more visitors and there will be more of an opportunity for the congregation to grow.

"We have been to many churches in the area which have had recent extensions and the attitude is that they should have been done sooner."

She also said that although the church is a grade one listed building the materials planned for the extension are in keeping with the church's character.

The application by the parochial church council will be considered by Maldon district councillors.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.