An iconic church in Birmingham is facing closure unless £40,000 can be raised to make urgent repairs to its roof. 

The Rev Andrew Gorham, interim vicar of St Paul's in the Jewellery Quarter, said that the ceiling was at risk of collapsing because of the water coming in through the damaged guttering. 

"The guttering of the church is worn out and therefore the water is getting into the church when we have heavy rain," he told the Birmingham Mail.

"It gets into the church and causes a lot of damage to the interior of the church." 

The Grade I listed church dates back 250 years and is situated in a pretty tree-lined Georgian square. 

Rev Gorham said that unless the funds can be raised, the church may have to limit the use of the building or close it altogether. 

"We need to raise £40,000 to have guttering lined and to prevent water coming in. It will make the building watertight," he said. 

"The danger is that of we do not get the guttering lined, the ceilings will collapse and we would stop using the building. We could close or have a very limited use of the building.

"Fund-raising is very challenging. We've put in a number of applications for charity funding and we are also doing a number of events like a fete on Saturday and Sunday." 

So far, fundraising efforts have raised £5,000 towards the goal. 

Rev Gorham is hoping that local businesses and residents will get behind the fundraising campaign to save the church. 

"We hope the Jewellery Quarter are going to get behind us and with their help and encouragement, we will keep the building open," he said.