A VICAR has been forced to look for another job after her church fell into disrepair.

St Mark's Church, Stockton, is being mothballed at the end of the month because there is no money to carry out essential repairs or keep up with overheads.

In addition, the small number of churchgoers who have been relied upon for years to carry out work around the church are now just too tired to carry on.

As a result, the parish of St Mark's is merging with Holy Trinity Church, in Greenvale.

However, as Holy Trinity already has a vicar, Dr Meg Gilley, the vicar of St Mark's, is busily looking through job vacancies advertised in the Church Times.

"I am looking for another job. It's very unusual to make oneself redundant in the Church of England, but it's the right thing for St Mark's," she said. "When it was suggested I knew this was the right thing to do. I have to apply for jobs."

Dr Gilley added: "It's sad whenever a church closes and there is a great sense of loss and a great sense of bereavement. But I think, in a sense, you could look back over the history and you could see this coming a long way down the line.

"But I am proud of the congregation. It was so courageous to make this decision. They could have buried their heads in the sand and waited until the house of cards collapsed around their ears."

Dr Gilley hopes her next incumbency will be somewhere in the North-East as her husband works in Durham.

The closing service at St Mark's will take place on Sunday, led by the Rt Rev Mark Bryant, Bishop of Jarrow.

After the service, the congregation will go to Holy Trinity Church for tea and a service of welcome.

The two congregations will start worshipping together in May.

The Rev Sue Giles, vicar of Holy Trinity, said the move would enable a better use of financial resources.

"It will also enable us to develop a broader and more co-ordinated outreach into the communities we seek to serve," she said.

Canon John Bell, spokesman for the Rt Rev Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, said of Dr Gilley: "I know Bishop Tom is very much hoping we will be able to offer her work in the diocese because her ministry is so much appreciated."