Cathedral goes from red to black

Truro Cathedral attracts 170,000 visitors a year

A Cornish cathedral is back in the black after being thousands of pounds in debt for a number of years.

Truro Cathedral, which has an annual budget of £1m, has made a profit of £12,500 over the last year.

The church is more used to ending each financial year with a deficit of close to £100,000.

The cathedral's dean, Dr Christopher Hardwick, said a five-year spending plan was starting to pay off and ruled out having to introduce admission fees.

'Balanced budget'

"It gives us a strong financial position to build on our work," he said.

"We are not primarily a business to make money. All we hope to achieve is a balanced budget and sufficient resources to sustain the work we hope to do."

Dr Hardwick also said Truro was becoming a green cathedral, with efforts being made to reduce its carbon footprint.

Restoration work on the cathedral building is not covered by the budget and the cathedral authorities are in talks with English Heritage to try and find some of the £2m needed to repair its central Victoria tower.