A historic Broughty Ferry church spire destroyed by lightning could take up to a year to repair.
Members of St Stephen’s and West congregation had hoped to be back in the building by the end of this month, but an investigation has revealed the damage could be worse than expected.
Historic Scotland have yet to be officially consulted about restoring the A-listed kirk, but church leaders are working on the proviso it may need to be put back close to original condition.
Interim moderator, Rev Jim Roy, who has been at the church for more than 18 months, said more structural problems had been revealed by engineers.
He said, “The work will be more far reaching than we initially anticipated, and it is not just simply a case of taking the spire down. The fact is a lot of the building has been damaged quite badly and because it is such an old building, Historic Scotland are likely to want it put back as is.
“The stonework and timber will have to be pulled back and checked and once you do that you discover all kinds of unknown factors.”
The spire was hit by lightning in May, sending chunks of masonry, tiles and timber raining to earth. Since then parishioners have attended services in the hall in the kirk grounds.
The Rev Roy said, “At the moment a scheme is being drawn up by the architects and technical people and they reckon it could be about a year before it is completely finished. We won’t know the full extent of what needs to be done and how much it will cost until we get a brief.
“We are very fortunate that we have got the hall which means we can carry on with services, but losing weddings is a big concern. Obviously it is up to the bride to think where she wants to go, but we have been using Invergowrie in the meantime.
“There are three or four scheduled but they would not want to be married in the church as it is.”
It is understood the spire will be removed and rebuilt at ground level with the roof capped so the church can be used until repairs are done.