Bushey Synagogue congregants are praying that normal services can be resumed as soon as possible - and certainly by the High Holy-Days.

As part of phase two of the shul's £1.2 million refurbishment scheme, the main synagogue has been completely gutted.

So for the summer holiday period, the community has decamped for Shabbat services to Immanuel College, half-a-mile away.

Services are held in the school's own synagogue, with children's services in classrooms and kiddushim, appropriately, in the dining hall. However, midweek services are continuing in the youth centre at the Bushey Synagogue site.

Shul warden Laurence Bamberg said the refurbishment had been "a logistical nightmare".

But Bushey chair Louis Sharron added that the Immanuel staff had been accommodating.

Shabbat services had been well attended "and we have even managed to hold a couple of barmitzvahs and an aufruf.

"The shul has to be ready for Rosh Hashanah come what may. The builders are aware of the deadline, so we are all praying that we will make it in time."