WORK to transform a disused Bolton church into a luxury apartment block is making ‘significant’ progress — and should be finished by August.

Holy Trinity Church in Trinity Street, opposite Bolton Station, closed in 1992 and had fallen into such a state of disrepair it had become unsafe.

In May last year, Bolton Council gave developers Lyndon Forshaw permission to convert the building into des res accommodation.

The church’s listed status means the exterior cannot be changed but the inside is being stripped out to make way for 42 studio flats.

A four-storey apartment block is also being built to the east of the church and a two-storey apartment block, called The Lodge, will be erected on the Crook Street side.

The buildings will contain 40 apartments between them, designed to suit students or young professionals, for a rent of £400 to £500 a month.

Colbre Projects is the engineer behind the development and site manager David Macintyre said he hopes work on the church and other buildings will be completed by August.

Mr Macintyre added: “There is still a lot of work to do and we have done a lot to make the roof safe. Our target, which has not changed, is to have all the projects finished by August.”