A SENIOR Southampton cleric has welcomed plans to remove old churches from maps.

The Rev Ian Johnson said it was common sense for Southampton-based mapping agency Ordnance Survey not to include religious venues that were no longer places of worship on their maps.

Former religious sites which boast a notable landmark such as a tower or minaret will still be included.

Mr Johnson, who is team rector of Southampton city centre parish, said: "It seems to me to be common sense. If they're not active places of worship and no one can see them, why mark them on the map?

"The maps that Ordnance Survey publish for the public are not meant to be historical records, they are supposed to get you from A to B.

"It's about what the purpose of a map is and the maps Ordnance Survey are talking about are to help people get around."

But English Heritage were outraged by the shock move.

Spokesman Richard Morris said: "Deleting them from the way we present landscape is deleting one layer of our cultural habitat.

"It's crazy. Maps are not just about getting from A to B, they're about understanding where we live."

A spokesman for the Church of England also expressed "regret" that the churches had not been consulted about the changes by Ordnance Survey, which has its head office in Romsey Road, Maybush.

He said: "Even if a building has not got a tower or a spire, or something of long-range navigational importance, these are still distinctive buildings - often for all sorts of reasons - and people would quite like to know where they are."

Ordnance Survey spokesman Scott Sinclair insisted all important old religious sites would continue to be marked.

He said: "Where a former place of worship has no tower, spire, minaret or dome - and is therefore of little or no help for navigation - the building will continue to be shown, but it will not be highlighted with a symbol."