THE doors to St Mary’s Church in Cardigan will open for the first time in three months next week as lockdown rules surrounding the coronavirus pandemic are relaxed.

And while regular services are still not being held at the church, it is a welcome move for Cardigan vicar Rev John Bennett.

“The church can now open for personal prayer for two hours in the afternoon, Monday to Thursday, from 2pm-4pm,” said Rev Bennett.

“We have had to go through a stringent procedure to get to this stage and will be erring on the cautious side. Initially we will have stewards positioned to ensure social distancing, there will be signage posted and hand sanitiser available.”

St Mary’s will first reopen on Monday, June 29 and it is hoped that if all goes well, it will be allowed to open for longer hours the following week. A notice will be posted by the church gates to let people know.

“We are still not allowed to conduct regular services but we are hopeful that shortly we will be able to hold weddings,” said Rev Bennett.

“But again, the Church in Wales has to come up with a set of guidelines and we are waiting for the details on that.”

Rev Bennett will continue to hold regular online services and the best way to access those is to go on to YouTube and enter ‘John Bennett Cardigan’ and follow the links.