Closure threat to Norfolk village church

It is one of the most notorious Norfolk episodes in living memory - a skirmish between church and school that led to the longest strike Britain has ever seen.

But now the church at the centre of the row in Burston, near Diss, could be closed for good, with the congregation most weeks struggling to get into double figures.

Just a handful of Burston's 600-strong community come to church on Sundays, leading Church officials to threaten pulling the plug on the historic building unless the village's Christians come forward to be counted.

The blow comes as other Church figures around Norfolk make clear their frustration at presiding over ever-declining congregations that spend more time worrying where money will come from than on their spiritual wellbeing. Read more