A FORMER church building which was bought by local parishioners so they could worship in their own community is to be converted into offices.

The St James Oratory, which lies on the corner of a junction off Salters Road in Wallyford, once welcomed up to 60 people to a regular Saturday evening Mass.

A police officer’s house originally, it was bought and converted into a place of worship by the Catholic Church with the help of funds raised by local residents in 1986.

Weekly Masses were celebrated at the oratory for more than 25 years, overseen by Father Paul Francis, the Passionist parish priest who cared for St Gabriel’s RC Church in Prestonpans.

However, when he stepped down from the role in 2012, the Catholic Church opted not to replace him and Masses at Wallyford ended.

The building has lain empty since then, with its surrounding large garden overgrown.

However, plans to turn it into offices on behalf of Scorpio Safety Systems have now been given the go-ahead by East Lothian Council.

Edinburgh-based Scorpio Safety Systems describes itself as independent safety at height specialists who “design, supply, install and test a wide range of fall protection systems”.

The planning application, which has been approved by East Lothian Council, also includes plans to put two temporary storage units on the site of the small church building.

A report by a council planning officer recommending approval of the plans said there had been one objection to the plans which raised concerns that the storage containers would be harmful to the character and appearance of the area.

However, it said that high hedging planned to be put in place around the site would screen the units, adding that they were twice the distance from the nearest home than is considered to have a harmful impact on the view.