A TROWBRIDGE church is doubling the size of its parish.

St Thomas's Church is incorporating the Paxcroft Mead estate into its parish from today.

The Rev Allan Coutts said the land where the 1,100 home estate is being built was originally divided between the Anglican parishes of Hilperton, St James's in Trowbridge and Steeple Ashton.

He said: "It was agreed it made sense for the whole estate to be covered by one parish, and an offer from St Thomas's to take responsibility for the area was accepted.

"Parish boundary changes usually take a considerable amount of time to organise but this alteration has gone ahead quickly because of the agreement.

Mr Coutts added: "We look forward to increasing our involvement in the new community at Paxcroft Mead, in partnership with other churches in the area."