TWO of Barry's oldest and most picturesque churches could soon fall apart unless vital cash is found to save them from crumbling to the ground.

Merthyr Dyfan, at the Colcot and St Paul's at High Street, need £53,000 worth of urgent repair work to shore up their failing buildings.

The dwindling Church-in-Wales parish needs the money to restore both buildings to their former glory, which includes the £20,000 to replace the organ in St Paul's with an electronic version.

The Rector Robert Parish told the News: "It costs £90,000 for a pipe organ, so the electric one is far cheaper, but still expensive."

The clergyman is now appealing to the Barry public to help him save the churches in his parish.

He said: "Both Merthyr Dyfan and St Paul's in my parish need work.

St Paul's needs £20,000 of emergency repairs and Merthyr Dyfan needs to have £13,000 spent on a new roof alone.

"There are always problems for old churches with small congregations.

The majority of the members are retired, and work hard organising coffee mornings.

We've managed to raise £5,000, but we need help to reach our target."

Merthyr Dyfan is still a place of historic and religious interest.

It is reputed to be built on the oldest Christian site in Wales. Legend says St Dyfan was killed and martyred there. And in 1980 it celebrated standing for 1,800 years.

The last major re-fit was in 1970, when the parish church was in a very bad state of repair.

A lot of the woodwork had to be burned to prevent the spread of woodworm and the decay caused by damp.

And damp is once again taking over.

The Rector Robert Parish added: "If the legends are true about St Dyfan, it makes it one of the oldest churches in Britain."

If you help, please contact Robert Parish on 01446 735943.