A church in East Oxford has closed for three months so a £150,000 programme of improvements can be completed.

Works already carried out at SS Mary and John, in Cowley Road, include woodworm treatment, updated electricity systems, new lighting and replacement heating in the vestry as well as a new sound system.

The Rev Adam Romanis, vicar at the church, which has a weekly congregation of about 100, said: "The reason for closing the church is we don't have toilets available.

"There are safety issues and the power and heating may not always be available so it was easier to just simply close the church building for the three-month period."

The renovations follow a major investment in the churchyard in a bid to encourage more people to visit the late 19th century church.

Mr Romanis said: "This is part of the plan to reconnect the church with the Cowley Road because previously it has looked very much apart. We want it to be part of the local scene and be a positive part of the local environment."

Work, which has been funded mostly by legacies and donations, should be finished by the end of July, but woodworm treatment has rendered the church organ unusable.

Mr Romanis said: "While it was in poor condition to start with, it is a significant instrument - a Romantic organ, rather than a Baroque instrument, of which there aren't many examples left."

Once the vestry work is complete church leaders will consider how to deal with the problem of the organ and possible improvements to the west end of the church, which would mean more fundraising.

Mr Romanis said: "The whole point of all this is to make the building more accessible and better used for the community as a whole. It's a huge period of upheaval but very exciting."

Services will move to the parish's other church, St Alban's Church, in Catherine Street, while SS Mary and John Church is closed, and to St Bartlemas Chapel, in the lane opposite the former Regal bingo hall in Cowley Road.