A church celebrated 140 years of serving the community with a village fete.

St Michael’s and All Angels Church, in Gordon Hill, hosted the fete yesterday afternoon to celebrate the anniversary.

A huge array of activities were on offer at the event, which ran from midday to 3.30pm yesterday, including a bouncy castle and face painting for children, and a barbecue and Pimms for adults.

The church will also hold a dedication service today to continue to mark the special anniversary.

The Reverend Stephen Taylor said: “It’s just such a good atmosphere here. I’m really glad that it’s so sunny and so many people have come along. Everyone seems to love everything - the Pimms tent, the games, the tea rooms.

“It is a real community here, that’s why people call it ‘the village’. We’re in a great location, right at the heart of the community, and we want people to feel this is home.”

The church also runs a youth group called Cornerstones, which had organised a dance competition as part of the village fete.

The church hopes to put proceeds from the event towards expanding the service to include all children from school years three to eight.

Katherine Murphy, who helped organise the event, said: “We’ve got good connections with the school, and lots of local groups and organisations who have helped out today which has been great.

“There’s been excellent support- everyone has really got behind us.”