A church in Greater Manchester has been awarded more than £3m lottery funding to help pay for its restoration.

The Grade II listed All Souls Church in Bolton was built by local mill owners the Greenhalgh brothers in 1878.

The restored church will house community facilities and an area explaining the building's history.

The project has been described as an "inspirational project of national significance" by Lloyd Grossman, Chair of the Churches Conservation Trust.

He added: "Thanks to the foresight and generosity of the Heritage Lottery Fund we have the opportunity to return this historic building to the heart of the community it was built to serve.

"Community involvement and enthusiasm is the key to ensuring the future of many of our most important historic buildings. We hope that All Souls Bolton will provide a great example for others to follow."

All Souls was built at a time when the industrial population was growing.

The parish was created in 1879 to serve the mill's workforce, who lived in the terraced streets around the church.

But by the middle of the 20th Century, the cotton industry had declined and the congregation had shrunk so much that the church had to close.

BBC News