Worshippers at a Halesowen church are praying for pennies from heaven as they face up to a £100,000 fundraising mountain.

Members of Hasbury Christian Fellowship need to raise the cash in order to replace the 70-year-old worship building at their Albert Road home.

The project has an estimated cost of £300,000 and the group hope to begin work on the new building by next spring.

Church leader Les Hardwick said the chapel, which was first opened in 1938, had reached the end of its useable life.

He said: "I am afraid the building is in rather a bad state, for one thing it needs a new roof and one of the walls is bowing quite badly.

"These things would cost a lot of money to replace so it makes sense to put up a new building."

Planning permission for the new building, which will be able to hold nearly 140 worshippers, was obtained in July last year and the church is currently awaiting building regulations approval.

The new building will be one and a half times the size of the current chapel. It will incorporate a disabled toilet, kitchenette and storeroom.

The Fellowship, which was formed in 1934, has already raised £140,000 toward the final cost in the form of pledges and is hoping more cash will come in from charitable bodies.

But at least £100,000 needs to be found by worshippers and the church will stage an art exhibition in June to kick off the fundraising activities. Younger members are also planning to organise a car wash.

Les added: "We are a very independent church and we are hoping to raise as much of the cash we can ourselves.

"Obviously there is a time limit but we have 12 months and are sure we can do it."

Anyone who would like to make a donation can call the Fellowship on 0121 550 8269.