Communities in west Oxfordshire are rallying round to help a landmark church badly damaged by fire.

Offers of help have started coming in after a blaze broke out in the Millennium project rooms at All Saints Church, in Churchill, near Chipping Norton, on Saturday night.

The white walls of the interior of the 180-year-old church have also been blackened by smoke.

The Rev Tony Cannon said tonight he did not know when the building would be able to be used again.

On Sunday, the congregation moved to St Andrew's Church, in nearby Kingham, for their service and offers of help have come in from the local Methodist church, Kingham Hill School and other community groups.

The Millennium rooms were added to the church through a special £130,000 project and are used for creches, Sunday school, youth groups and community clubs.

Mr Cannon said: "Fortunately, the rooms including a kitchen were solidly made and, though it's gutted and an absolute mess, we should be able to salvage them.

"Everyone around here has been absolutely brilliant, just mucking in to help and asking us how they can help and use their buildings. I have to say the fire brigade were wonderful, they got here within minutes of the alarm being raised and saved the rest of the church from ruin."

The fire was spotted at about 8.15pm by a farmer who was having a beer in the village's Chequers pub after a hard day of combine harvesting.

At first he thought it was a bonfire he could see through the pub windows, but then rang the fire service on his mobile.

Chipping Norton fire crews were joined by colleagues from Charlbury, Hook Norton and Oxford, who worked to damp down the blaze until the early hours of Sunday morning.

Incident commander John Nixon said the crews were confronted by a severe fire in the ground floor when they arrived.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control. Although the fire was contained to parts of the ground floor, severe heat and smoke damage affected the rest of the church.

The cause of the blaze is still being investigated, though it may have been an electrical fault.

"It is pretty filthy in there, but it is repairable," said Mr Cannon, who has been vicar at the church for seven years.

"It's a bit like the Blitz mentality now, with everyone wanting to help."