You could make the Easter weekend an even more memorable occasion by attending a candlelit carol service at the church of St Thomas of Canterbury in Chester on Holy Saturday.

Services on this day have historically been only vigils, but the Parkgate Road church’s staff decided this year to do something new.

So on March 26 at 6.30pm, St Thomas’s will open its doors and welcome all members of the community.

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Fr Robert Clack, who runs the church, said the decision had been made to try to attract those who did not regularly attend services.

He added: “We wanted something which had some of the beauty of our ancient Easter Vigil, but is much more accessible to newcomers. The old service was lovely but unless you were a regular, it might have left you wondering what it was all about. It’s all about being inclusive.”

Paul Wheeler, who serves as a warden in the church, said the original idea had come from the BBC’s Easter from Kings.

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Mr Wheeler added: “We thought about our very capable choir and knew that we could also do something that matched it.”

St Thomas’ recently launched a foodbank collection point and regularly opens its doors for community events, such as their recent concert in aid of the Heart Foundation.