A SOUP run which was threatened with eviction from a Bournemouth church has been overwhelmingly given a reprieve.

A public meeting chaired by the Bishop of Southampton decided the Salvation Army service for the town’s homeless could stay at St Peter’s Church.

Around 50 people attended the forum at the church, attended by representatives of the church, Bournemouth council and the police.

District Church Council members voted 10-1 in favour of allowing the project to stay and resolved to work with the authorities to help the homeless and the town. The Bishop, the Right Reverend Jonathan Frost, said afterwards: “I am greatly encouraged by the outcome of the vote.

“The message of Jesus is one of good news to those of us experiencing any manner of difficulty, and for ordinary folk who find themselves in an impossible situation at the bottom of life’s scrapheap.

“Christians know that those who are forgotten by society are not forgotten by God.”

The soup run has been at the Hinton Road church for more than 20 years. One volunteer, Mary Randell, received the MBE for her work there, giving soup and clean clothes to rough sleepers and treating their feet.

But last year, the Daily Echo revealed it was being asked to leave and set up at Cotlands Road nearly a mile away. The news came as a second blow to the town’s homeless after the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, in Richmond Hill, asked its soup kitchen to leave.

But the service at St Peter’s was unable to find another suitable home and was allowed to stay while discussions went on.

A statement from St Peter’s District Church Council said: £St Peter’s Church commends the Salvation Army for the work which they are doing with the homeless and is happy for them to continue to use St Peter's Churchyard. The church looks forward to working with the borough council and other agencies on the wider issues.”

The Bishop added: “Our Christian partners in the Salvation Army know this and have a long established record of ‘walking the talk’.

“It is a huge privilege for the Christian community at St Peter’s to partner with the SA in serving those on the very margins of our society, and it is this kind of ministry which makes us a church.”