Row over plan to turn listed Mayfair church into spa

Multi-millionaire George Hammer, who founded The Sanctuary in Covent Garden, wants to turn the Georgian building into a "wellness centre".

He says it is the only way of saving the crumbling Greek Revival building, which has been on English Heritage's Buildings-at-Risk register for 20 years.

But worshippers at St Mark's Church in North Audley Street and local residents, including Lady Sainsbury and actors Ray Emmet Brown and Gary Beadle, are campaigning to keep it as a church and say it plays a vital role in the community.

Lady Sainsbury, wife of former government minister Sir Tim Sainsbury, is president of the Save St Mark's Action Group and regularly attends the church's women's group.

She said: "It's a wonderful Grade Ilisted building with a tremendous history. It's a terrible indictment on society and on the Church if we are not able to keep this wonderful place open when there is a vibrant congregation there. I feel very strongly about it."

St Mark's was built in 1824 and during the Second World War became a centre for American worshippers. It was visited by both President Dwight Eisenhower and Eleanor Roosevelt.

But during the Fifties and Sixties the congregation dwindled and the church was declared redundant in 1974. Since 1994 the Diocese of London has allowed an independent charismatic church to meet there. The Commonwealth Christian Fellowship has a congregation of around 120 and campaigners say it is active in the community, with antiknife crime training for teenagers and home visits for elderly people.

They want it to remain a place of worship but the Diocese of London has signed a deal with Mr Hammer, giving him a 112-year lease subject to Westminster council approving his plans. Under the deal he would pay to restore the building, and then pay an annual rent of £100,000. The church has now been given notice to quit.

Holby City actor Ray Emmet Brown, who lives in Mayfair and worships at St Mark's, where he was married in 2005, said: "The church is a massive benefit for this community. We are a strange community, living in the heart of commercial London, so anybody that's aimed at bringing people together without lookingfor financial reward is a good thing. "I don't know why this area needs another spa or leisure centre in place of something that will help to keep community spirit alive."

Kirk Mitchell, co-ordinator of the Save St Mark's Action Group, which has a 1,000-signature petition, said: "We are trying to preserve the building as a place of worship for the community. We are thoroughly opposed to any commercial vulturism. It's appalling that the finest church of its kind in the country is being sold to a businessman." But Mr Hammer, whose empire includes Urban Retreat at Harrods and who lives next door to the church, said many residents support his plans.

He said: "Commonwealth Church don't want to leave because they don't have to pay rent. But their practitioners aren't local so they could go anywhere. No church has found a sustainable use for the building but we have agreed to spend several million to bring it back into proper community use and to refurbish it so there will be no further deterioration. We have been very careful to keep all the important architectural features in place."

Mr Hammer, 58, ex-husband of makeup artist Ruby Hammer, said he wants to open an alternative health medical centre, not a spa, and would give discounts to local people.

A Diocese of London spokesman said: "Mr Hammer's proposal will restore and enhance this important Grade I-listed building."