REVAMP work including a new entrance and the fitting of cathedral-style windows has been completed at a Penketh church.

Archbishop of Liverpool the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly officially consecrated St Joseph's Church at a Mass of Thanksgiving on Friday, April 30.

Parishioners joined in the celebrations marking the end of the 10-month restoration project costing more than £700,000 at the 80-year-old building in Meeting Lane.

Work has included installing a pitched roof on the extensions and widening the nave by building cloisters on either side.

Inside there is a new altar and a baptismal font made out of York stone, and the church has been carpeted throughout and has new seating.

Statues and Stations of the Cross have been restored and a stained glass window has been fitted behind the altar.

Parish Priest Father Joseph Bibby said: "After months of disruption the parishioners now have a beautiful church worthy of the glory and praise of God."

St Joseph's Church has been blessed by no fewer than four Archbishops of Liverpool over the years.

The land that the church stands on was bought by two priests in 1923 for £60 and Archbishop Richard Keating laid the foundation stone for the original building in the same year.

The west extension was built nearly 40 years later, with Archbishop John Carmel Heenan opening and blessing the building in 1963.

And the east extension of the church was opened and blessed by Archbishop Derek Worlock back in 1981.