AN MP has thrown her support behind a church's ambitious plans to build a multi-million pound community centre.
St John's Church in Epping unveiled drawings and a model of the £2m scheme at its Christmas Tree Festival on Friday.
Visitors could also see a computer-generated walkthrough of the building, which would include a café and rooms for meetings and activities.
The church has already raised almost £200,000 toward the centre and will launch a fundraising campaign, the Heart of Epping Appeal, in coming months.
Epping Forest MP Eleanor Laing was shown the plans by Canon Geoffrey Connor at the festival.
She said: "The proposals are totally in keeping with the surrounding area and the facilities which are to be included in the new development will be a massive boost for Epping and its residents.
"The church has had this dream for decades now and I am delighted that its plans have moved on so dramatically in recent months."
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