Pews have been removed from the south aisle of Fakenham Parish Church to make it more flexible for use as a community events venue.The work, which involved taking out the three-or-four seat pews, and laying high-quality York stone on the floor, will match the north side which has already been altered.

Pews have been removed from the south aisle of Fakenham Parish Church to make it more flexible for use as a community events venue.

The work, which involved taking out the three-or-four seat pews, and laying high-quality York stone on the floor, will match the north side which has already been altered.

It means that it will be that the aisle will be much more accessible by people and particularly for people with disabilities and using wheelchairs.

The longer term plan is to re-locate the choir stalls at the top of the south aisle but this will not be carried out until there has been a period of experimentation so the choir can agree where in the church their stalls should be placed to best sound effect.

Fakenham Parish church Rector, the Rev Adrian Bell, said the £23,000 scheme, for which there had been official permission, being carried out by well-known builders Fishers and Sons, of Fakenham, and two of the re-usable pews had been sold. Usable wood from the pews would be re-cycled and given to Shereford church.

Mr Bell said that the extra space created by the work would mean that four additional Christmas trees would be included in this year's Christmas Tree Festival.

Mr Bell said that progress on the work could be viewed by people who were not regular church attenders during a Christian Aid table top sale on Saturday from 9am until 12 noon. A variety of different stalls selling home-made cakes, plants and other goods would be set up.

Looking further ahead the new pew-free aisles will come into their own during a major flower festival in the church entitled, A Victorian Experience, planned for October.