St Peter’s Church held an open house event on Thursday to show off its crypt, which has undergone a half a million pound makeover.

The newly revamped crypt features a cafe, a kitchen, an acupuncture treatment room and two consulting rooms open for public hire.

Nearly a hundred people turned up at the event at the 170-year-old church in Northchurch Terrace, De Beauvoir Town, to celebrate the transformation.

Project manager Claudia Turbet-Delof, who has been working at the church for the past three months, said: “The crypt looks amazing. We had a visitors’ book on Thursday and the comments were fantastic. A lot of people in the community are happy to have this space.”

The crypt will also play host to the cold-weather night shelter and yoga and pilates classes.

The money for the makeover was provided by the the Big Lottery Fund.