Parishioners face an agonising wait after Catholic bosses confirmed that one out of two Wigan RC churches is for the chop.

Either St Mary's or St John's - which are only 200 yards apart - will close, however which one it is has yet to be determined.

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It follows a series of public meetings held over the future of the two neighbouring Standishgate churches, which formed part of a consultation period.

St Mary's (left) and St John's (right) are both historic Catholic churches in Standishgate, Wigan

placeholder image — St Mary's (left) and St John's (right) are both historic Catholic churches in Standishgate, Wigan

But ultimately the future of both historic churches rests with the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

The archdiocese issued an announcement to parishioners about the future of St William's parish (of which St John's church is a part), which said: "As we prepare for the future, aware of the great heritage that has been passed to us, it has been decided that, with the two churches of St Mary and St John being so close together, only one church should remain in sacred use.

"We will begin a process of consultation to decide which of St Mary's or St John's (and their associated buildings) should be closed."

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Liverpool said: “Recently, the archdiocese took the decision to merge the parishes of St William (St John and St Patrick churches) and St Mary.

"At the moment, there are three churches, with two priests currently serving those three churches. As well as the recently agreed re-roofing of St Patrick’s, the other two churches need over £3m pounds to maintain, so the archdiocese has committed to ensuring one of them will be sustainable for the future.

"A fourth church in that parish, St William, was also given to social housing. We would like to thank everybody who attended the public consultations across the parish, helping us discern the future of both churches. We will inform parishioners of any developments at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Both St Mary’s and St John’s were originally built in a spirit of competition with each other and were completed in the same year, 1819. They are also both grade II*-listed buildings.

The future of St Mary’s was thrown into doubt after its long-serving parish priest, Fr John Johnson, stood down from active ministry at the end of last year due to ill health.