A SOUTHAMPTON church held its first service for three months today.

The congregation at Shirley Warren Action Church came together for the first time since lockdown began in March.

The service was held in the open air and will be for the coming weeks.

Spokesman for the church, Andy McHugh said: "We held a open air service and will be for the coming weeks as this will help to mitigate risk and we are able to accommodate people with a safe social distancing.

"Our services are open to anyone who would like to attend."

He added: “I’m very happy how it went today and pleased that everyone who attended followed the government guidelines and we're looking forward to welcoming people back next week.”