AN unused inner city church is to become a centre for circus.
Circus group Circomedia have signed a lease with The Churches Conservation Trust to rent St Paul's Church in Bristol's Portland Square.
The trust spent £3.5m restoring the church and Circomedia will now be able to install a full-scale flying trapeze rig, a sprung dance floor and tumble runs.
It is hoped the circus training centre will help to regenerate the St Paul's area.
The Grade 1 listed late Gothic church was opened in 1794 and closed in the 1990s. It became derelict and frequented by drug users and prostitutes.
The trust says the project illustrates a new direction for the church conservation body to save the best of this country's church architecture by having a vision of exciting new community use.
A cafe will be open to the public and there will be a glass wall between it and the training space.
It is hoped that the centre will be fully operational by next spring.
