A VEIL of secrecy surrounds the buyer of St Clement's Church hall, in Leigh, which is thought to have sold for £1.3million.

The controversial sale has angered many local people who do not want to see the much-loved amenity bulldozed and replaced with flats or houses.

Estate agents Strutt and Parker has refused to say who bought the hall from the church or how much money changed hands.

Published Thursday, December 8, 2005