Damp Buddhists saved by Lottery

A Buddhist centre in a leaky Yorkshire castle is among the winners of £17.5m in grants to places of worship.

The funding was announced jointly by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

£127,000 goes to the Losang Dragpa Buddhist Centre at Dobroyd Castle, Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

A total of 153 grade I and II* listed churches and chapels across England will benefit from the latest round of repair grants.

Buckets currently litter the floors of the castle, in Calderdale, to catch leaking water. The problem is causing serious damage to ornate plasterwork and cornices.

A Victorian church in Berkshire has been granted the largest award ever under the scheme. £754,000 will help mend its crumbling 150-foot spire.

The grant will form the bulk of the estimated £1m cost to prevent masonry tumbling from the spire of All Saints', Boyne Hill, Maidenhead.