IT LEFT a town "heartbroken" but inspired surely the biggest fundraising drive Dunbar has ever seen.

Twenty five years on from the fire which destroyed nearly all of Dunbar Parish Church, its current minister hopes new plans for the building will bring young and old churchgoers together again for the first time since the blaze.

On the night of January 3, 1987 a fire thought to have started in the roof of the 166-year-old building reduced it to a "red sandstone shell", reported the East Lothian Courier of January 9 that year.

A message from then-minister the Rev William R Chalmers in the Courier read: "So early in 1987, history has been made in the saddest possible way with the destruction of our historic parish church. We are all heartbroken, but encouraged also by the prayers and many kind offers of help received." In the following years, services were held in the town's church halls - though some did brave the elements for an 'open-air' Easter service in 1987 within the ruins of the building.

The Dunbar and East Lothian community then rallied to raise nearly �1 million to rebuild it.

Now, parish church minister the Rev Gordon Stevenson is preparing to oversee major refurbishment there, with the addition of new rooms to accommodate a number of the church's affiliated groups.

He told the Courier: "Twenty-five years on, our thoughts are of gratitude to all those who helped fundraise and contribute to allow the church to be rebuilt.

"It still took something like three or four years before [services were] running back in the church building." However, the new extension will see groups like the Sunday school return to the main church building on Queen's Road.

"The church is about families and you need to get a way of getting the wee ones coming to church," added Mr Stevenson.

"It's definitely made more of a focus on looking to the future than looking to the past." Free space within the church building will be converted to new rooms and facilities. It is hoped that the work will be finished by August.