Work has started on a major redevelopment project costing £1.85m at a thriving Poole church.

Spetisbury Construction began demolition work this week at Gateway Church’s Alder Road site.

The 38-week project includes the replacement of the crumbling ‘Top Hall’ in the car park.

In its place will come a 230-plus, purpose-built auditorium.

Meanwhile, the existing building, which fronts Alder Road, is to be remodelled and re-roofed.

It will provide children’s facilities on Sundays as well as multi-function space during the week.

While the work is underway, all services and other activities have moved to Gateway Church’s second site in Ashley Road, Parkstone, pictured right.

The green light for contracts to be signed was given just before Christmas after approval of a £1.2m loan from the Baptist Union.

The redevelopment project has been subject to debate over decades with detailed discussions and plans drawn up since 2017.

In a YouTube video, Matthew Hosier, Church Pastor, pictured left, said: “God has been so good to us.

“We are going to get this done [redevelopment project] after all these years and decades.

“Praise God for that.”

The remaining £650,000 of the project cost has already been met.

A total of £300,000 was given by church-goers during the course of just one weekend.

The church attracts hundreds of people to its services including 376 last Sunday.

Matthew said the original gospel hall dated back to 1925 while other buildings on the one-acre site were constructed in the 1950s and 1980s.

“This is the culmination of many years of planning and we’re all very excited,” he added.

Features of the new auditorium include a green roof containing vegetation.

Roy Cake, Spetisbury’s Construction Director, pictured left, said the building work would look stunning once completed by the end of the year.

“This is a prestigious and high-profile project,” he said.

Justin Ives, Managing Director, pictured right, added: “We are pleased to be working with the church to help bring their long-term project to reality.

“It is an exciting one for us, being a high-profile local development.

“Spetisbury Construction have a great track record in delivering projects of this type and look forward to seeing this one underway.”

Architects for the project are HP Architects Ltd in London while CTP Consulting Engineers in Sevenoaks, Kent, are the structural engineers.