A church has appealed to members of its congregation to write it into their wills.

Sompting United Reformed Church, in Cokeham Road, Sompting, is losing more than £2,000 a year because dwindling congregations mean less cash from collections, its main source of income.

The church says its outgoings are significantly higher than money coming in and savings will have disappeared within two years.

Finance committee chairman Rod Austin wrote an open letter to the congregation outlining the church's plight in the August newsletter.

He said: "Looking back a number of years, we were in a position of having a reasonable reserve of funds.

"Year by year, this reserve has been gradually eroded, simply because our outgoings are higher than our income.

"This is by no means unusual - very few churches these days make a profit.

"In the year that ended March 31, and despite receiving a generous donation of £1,000, that erosion amounted to £2,200.

"Our offertories fell almost nine per cent compared with 2001/2. This was not unexpected.

"We are very fortunate that spiritually our church is growing, and we can take great joy from this, but the number of people attending services is falling and this is reflected in the offertory income."

Mr Austin said outgoings were scrutinised so money was never wasted.

In many cases maintenance jobs were carried out by volunteers.

At the current rate the church's savings would dry up within two years.

He said: "This is the stark position we face. What every church, and charity for that matter, need in order to survive are legacies.

"Unfortunately, we have not benefited in this way to any extent for a number of years.

"I know that not everyone can increase their regular giving but there is something that I feel everyone can do, and that is to remember your church when making your will."