MEMBERS of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Bolton are unhappy at having to “pay to pray”.

The congregation, which meets every Sunday at the church in All Saints Street, will be charged £1 to park in their usual spots at the bottom of All Saint’s Street.

NCP which owns the car park is extending the charging fees to include Sundays.

But now NCP chiefs have said they are willing to talk to the church in the hope of coming to an “amicable arrangement”.

The church has been in operation since 1967 and members have never been charged to park in the nearby car parks.

Yaroslaw Tymchyshyn, aged 59 (both correct), a member of the church, said: “The Ukrainian community in Bolton is a small and ageing one and have used the church since 1967 — to be asked to pay to pray on Sunday morning is a step too far.

“We feel we should have been consulted on the issue but weren’t — this shows a distinct lack of consideration to an ethnic minority group that has been in Bolton since 1948.”

The first generation of Ukrainians in Bolton arrived in the 1940s and included Yaroslaw’s father — Mychajlo.

Mr Tymchyshyn explained that his father and others were forced to flee their country as they had fought against the Red Army during the war and would have faced the wrath of Joseph Stalin, had they stayed.

There are between 30 and 50 people that meet at the Church in All Saints Street each Sunday, many of whom are in their '80s and '90s.

Mark Wilkinson, NCP contract manager for Bolton said that the company were “unaware” of the issues for the Ukrainian Church.

He added: “The last thing we want to do is inconvenience the church. We incorporated the new charges to fall in line with other car parks in the area but I would be more than happy to sit down with the church to discuss this issue.

“We have already come to an amicable arrangement with another church and I am hopeful that we can do the same again.”