English Heritage architect Robin Nugent reported on the essential repairs being carried out at Brighton’s historic Middle Street Synagogue at the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation AGM.

A £317,000 English Heritage grant is funding work on the Grade II-star property, whose interior was described by Mr Nugent as “the finest in Brighton with the exception of the Royal Pavilion”.

He said the first stage of the project had included the repair of the front gable and a stained glass window and the replacement of a rose window. With the premises almost completely re-roofed, the protective tin roof could be dismantled.

Next on the agenda is the repair of internal decorations and the replacement of electrical circuits, for which the community will have to find the funding.

Shul chairman Martyn Cooperman told the meeting that an appeal was being launched to raise around £500,000.

There was additionally a plan to create a trust “which we hope will also attract members of the wider community who have an interest in preserving this building as part of the heritage of Brighton”.