WHEN Trevor Clough decided to make a model of Haggate Baptist Church, Burnley, as a present for its minister he had no idea he would still be working on it 28 years later.

Tiny slivers of plywood are used to create chairs, lollypop sticks have been cut into decorations for the altarpiece and Trevor's old socks have been turned into cushions for the miniature church.

Trevor, of Hillside View, Brierfield, used the fretsaw he was given for Christmas when he was nine to create the plywood scale model which measures a quarter of an inch to a foot.

He intended the model as a leaving present for Haggate's minister Joy but she stayed at the church and the pair were married in 1984 -- eight years after Trevor began work on his labour of love.

Trevor, 69, said: "I used to sit in the back of the church and I just thought 'I wonder if I could create this with my fretsaw'. I'd done little bits like aeroplanes and ships but never anything like this.

"I knew some day Joy would be leaving and I made the model so she could take it with her. We got together and got married but I kept making it." The original Haggate Baptist Church was built in 1865 but it was pulled down in 2001 because it had become unsafe.

When Trevor and Joy, who had retired, heard the church was to be demolished they took pictures of every detail so Trevor could continue work on the model.

Every detail of the church has been recreated from the number of window panes to the gas pipes running alongside the pews. Meanwhile Joy, 76, is impressed at her husband's patience, although he admits to getting frustrated with the fiddly work sometimes.

Joy said: "He kept it a secret from me for a while. I wouldn't have imagined 28 years ago that it would reach these proportions."