'I'm buying a church in my Black Country hometown to save it from redevelopment - and if I succeed I'll let the right group use it rent-free'
A Black Country-born property developer has made an audacious bid to buy a disused church in his hometown to save it from redevelopment.
Samuel Leeds has launched a plan to buy and preserve churches across England, saying that Christian buildings should remain places of worship and community good rather than being converted into other facilities.
Mr Leeds, who owns property developments in the UK and internationally, said in a video on Instagram he had made a cash offer of £225,000 for Darlaston Methodist Church, which had been set for conversion by developers.
"I just put down a cash offer of £225,000 to buy this church that was about to be closed down and sold off to developers," Mr Leeds said on Instagram.
"I just can't have a building that was built to glorify Jesus being turned into something to just make profit.
"This is my hometown. We're in Darlaston, Walsall; I grew up around these ends.
"I'm going to buy this and I'm going to offer it completely free of charge, zero rent, to a church that is prepared to worship Jesus here, yes, but also feed the hungry, clothe the naked and house the homeless in the streets of the Black Country."
