A crumbling landmark church which has been left to rot for 18 years looks set to be demolished and replaced with a community building after it emerged its refurbishment could cost £2.5 million.

The Grade II Listed Mellish Road Methodist Church, built in 1910, has long been an eyesore at a gateway into Walsall and has been the target of repeated vandal and arson attacks.

Now its owner Amjad Ali and his two partners have applied for listed building consent to demolish what is left of the former Wesleyan Chapel. This artist’s impression shows how the site could look if a three-storey community building is created in its place.

Mr Ali said: “If we get this planning permission we hope to start building work next year on what we want to be a community building at the heart of Walsall.

“We budgeted what the refurbishment of the church would cost and it came out as around £2.5 million so the best option is going to be to start again.” Meetings have been held between the owners, Walsall Council officers and representatives from English Heritage.

The application comes after council chiefs threatened to take court action over the lack of development of the site.

Council leader councillor Mike Bird told the council in October that if the owners failed to come up with a plan for the land an injunction would be taken out forcing them to do so.

The church was built with the help of public donations. It was created on the site of a former limestone mine but was forced to close in November 1992 because of severe structural problems.