A GROUP working to raise £250,000 to restore a decaying 12th Century church have been warned the bill could increase after further major structural issues were uncovered.

Terry Cussons, warden at grade II*-listed St Wilfrid's Church, in South Kilvington, near Thirsk, said engineers had announced further investigations would be necessary after studying areas of the building's fabric that had been covered with render.

The landmark Norman church, which has been placed on English Heritage's at-risk register, was last year awarded a £230,000 grant by the conservation body to restore the architecturally-important building, after surveyors raised concerns during its five-yearly inspection.

Church inspectors found the building, which also serves as the community hub for the village, had wood rot in the shingled bell tower, damp caused by cracked render on the outside walls and that the chancel end of the church needed underpinning as its east wall was moving away from the north and south walls.

They also concluded that the sanctuary floor needed replacing.

It is hoped the renovation work will help preserve features such as its gothic stalls, which were carved by the Rev WT Kingsley, who became the oldest rector in England while serving at the church from 1859 to 1917.

Other features in the church include a 15th Century hexagonal black marble font donated by vicar Thomas le Scrope and medieval bench ends.

Mr Cussons said the discovery of further structural issues would cause the renovation work to be delayed by about a year, while moves to find other sources for funding had been launched.

He said the delays would not affect the building's use and he remained positive about raising £20,000 to match-fund the English Heritage grant.

Mr Cussons added: "The church is in a worse condition than we had originally thought.

"The new structural investigations will take a couple of months, so the reports to get our initial grant won't be approved until the early autumn.

"As lime mortar can't be applied in temperatures of less than five degrees, we will have to wait until next spring for that to be done.

"It is a bit frustrating, but we knew there were going to be problems due to the age of the building."

After the renovations are completed, church leaders hope to launch plans to revamp the vestry, introduce toilet facillities and replace audio-visual equipment to attract more groups to use it.