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The contract to build a new church for Haverhill's Roman Catholics has gone out to tender and the innovative building should be finished by this time next year at a cost of nearly £1million.

It means that a 45-year-old dream is at last going to be fulfilled and it probably could never have happened without migrants from all over the world.

The current St Felix church in Princess Way is a temporary building, which replaced a wooden hut in Withersfield Road, but which was always intended in turn to be replaced by a permanent building.

But when the current priest, Father Michael Teader, first came to St Felix 20 years ago, the project would have seemed impossible to the small congregation.

"The congregation was small and ageing," he said. "It was made up mainly of first and second generation Irish and a few locals."

But now the church building, originally intended as a hall, has not only reached the end of its life, but is too small to contain the 300 worshippers who attend the two masses each weekend.

"We have a lot of Addenbrooke's workers living in Haverhill now," said Fr Teader. "There are strong Phillipino, Polish, Indian and African communities and this has swollen the number of Catholics, so now on Sunday mornings the church is packed and we have people standing."

The influx has enabled the church to raise nearly all of the more than £900,000 required to buld the new church. They are only about £100,000 short now and are still fund raising.

If there is still a shortfall in a year's time it can be borrowed from their diocese, so they are now able to go ahead.

Fr Teader said it was a very exciting moment for them as it would be the first time the Catholics in Haverhill had had a purpose-built church.

"Even five years ago we were struggling, but now we can see the end in sight," he said.

The design has already caught the eye of many in the town because it is striking and distinctive, built around a circular tower above the font, but with a roofline which reflects many of the Parkway estate houses nearby.

It will be built on the back of the site, where there is at present a grassed area surrounded by cypress trees. When it is completed the current church will be demolished tomake way for a car parking area.

Car parking has become an issue with the influx of congregation and that, combined with the construction site itself, will need careful negotiation with neighbours.

Don Eduputa, a qualified architect from among the congregation, is acting as CDM co-ordinator for the project and liaison with residents to make sure any nuisance is minimised as much as possible.

Parishioners had a say in the design, as did pupils at St Felix Primary School.

The church will be able to hold nearly 300, double the current capacity, and enable them eventually to celebrate one big mass on a Sunday morning, rather than the current two, on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

The interior is already planned, with an altar having been offered from the church in Newmarket, and also a font from another church. It is hoped there will be some stained glass, too.

But they also want to use some of the elements nof the current church. "Many people in the parish helped to build this church," said Fr Teader, "so in some ways it will be sad to see it go, and we want to keep a sense of continuity."

The feedback from local residents so far has been very positive. The church initially considered moving away to another site altogether, butlocal people were very supportive of it staying on the site.

The new church will contains meetimg rooms which the community may be able to use, and the building itself will enhance the area.

The migrant worshippers have added a new dimension to the church. "This is a vibrant and young parish congregation," said Fr Teader.

"We have a lot of young families and children. The Indian community within the church use the building once a month to have a mass in their own language."

The church is now so multicultural that one worshipper has dubbed it the 'United Nations Church'.

Fund raising goes on led by a committee chaired by Ian Wade. One of its members, Dave Arnold, will soon be launching a 'buy a brick' campaign, and a new website is also being set up.