Church leaders in Worthing are selling their hall to fund a £300,000 repair scheme.

Urgent specialist works are needed at landmark Christ Church, in Grafton Road, after a report revealed the poor condition of its flint and terracotta tower.

The costly estimate for the repairs is a second blow to the Parish of Christ the King, which owns Christ Church and two other churches in the town centre.

The parish has been forced to spend thousands of pounds to fix the roof of nearby St Paul's Church, in Chapel Road.

The Rev John Chitham, parish team vicar, confirmed Christ Church hall in Portland Road, had been put up for sale in an attempt to meet the cost of stone specialists mending the tower.

The hall used to be Christ Church Boys' School in the 1920s and Mr Chitham said: "It has obviously been an emotional step to sell her. It's a huge wrench and we're extremely sad about it.

"It's used for church meetings and a meeting place for Worthing Churches Homeless Project."

The hall is in preservation area, which could affect the sale of the site.

Mr Chitham said the parish would want the hall developed in an appropriate way but the sale was crucial to Christ Church's survival.

He said: "The parish is pulling together. The cost has come as a great shock but we've now got a plan of development for the major structural works.

"I trust in God and believe this is the right way forward. We are getting a lot of support from the parish and people in the diocese and I'm very confident we will be able to do the tower."

He stressed the tower was not in danger of collapsing.

The church was built in the mid 19th Century and other repairs are needed.

St Paul's was made redundant in January and since then £450,000 has been spent making the roof watertight.

There are plans to raise almost £600,000 so the interior can be transformed into a community facility with small worship area.

Work has now started on building ten self-contained flats for adults with moderate learning difficulties next to St Paul's.