CAMPAIGNING residents have raised more than £70,000 to save a historic building from demolition and keep it for community use.

Members of the Old Chapel Trust have dipped into their pockets to buy the old St John Ambulance building, in Chapel Road, Wivenhoe.

Potter and resident Pru Green has applied for permission to demolish it and build a two-storey, two-bedroom home and art gallery for herself and fellow artists.

The building, which is owned by St John Ambulance, was built in the late 1800s as a Methodist Chapel and has been used to hold community events and meetings for decades.

It is on the market for £75,000.

Peter Cook, 68, of Philip Road, Wivenhoe, said: “The number of community facilities in Wivenhoe is rapidly diminishing and everything is getting built on.

“We have all got together and put in the capital ourselves in the hope of buying the building.

“We have been trying for a while now to raise funds and obviously it takes time.”

Mr Cook said the group was not against Ms Green.

He added: “We have tried to see if we can come together in some way by keeping part of the space as a gallery.

“But the fact is, the building has been in the town for 150 years, it is in a conservation area and it has been in constant community use for a long time.

“It would be a great shame for the people of Wivenhoe.”

Laurie Wood architects, working for Ms Green, said in its application: “Pru has become a well-known and popular figure in the town.

“She wants to have the opportunity to display her work and other Wivenhoe artists’ work to friends and visitors in a purpose-made facility.

“There are few places for artists to exhibit work in the town.

“Her studio is inadequately sized and lit.

“She is looking therefore to relocate her business to larger premises, with space for a dedicated gallery for the public to properly view her work and with similar working and living arrangements to those in place.”

Colchester Council’s planning committee is expected to make a decision on the application later this year.