THE Bishop of Worcester has spoke of his delight at the Budget - calling the help for churches "visionary".

The Right Revd John Inge has backed Chancellor George Osborne's new plans for the nation after he pledged to treble a vital kitty to repair church roofs.

The £15 million church repair fund is being increased to £45 million to address huge demand for investment around Britain's most iconic sites.

Revd Inge said: "The nation's churches and cathedrals are irreplaceable historic buildings which are important both to worshippers and the wider communities.

"This new funding will mean that many more parishes will be able to complete essential repairs to their churches to continue to serve their communities well into the future.

"We are enormously grateful to the Chancellor for the generous promise of more funding following the heavily oversubscribed Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund and First World War Centenary Cathedral Repair Fund (two other pots of money)."

Back in December Worcester Cathedral secured £250,316 last year from the centenary fund towards window repairs.

Meanwhile, Chamber of Commerce bosses in Worcestershire revealed they had mixed views about the Budget measures.

Mr Osborne spent part of his Commons address on Wednesday focusing on measures to create a 'Northern powerhouse' around Manchester and create a City deal in Yorkshire, allowing it to keep more of its business rates.

Chamber chief executive Mike Ashton said: "We'd have liked to have seen more measures addressing the sizeable economic potential of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and the West Midlands and Midlands in general.

"As a county we have seen levels of growth only rivalled by the capital and Oxfordshire whilst as a region, we have been one of three that have seen the value of our exports consistently grow over the past few years."

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin said measures like the new ISAs for first-time home buyers and tax-free savings would make a difference.

"This Government has a long-term economic plan and that plan is quite clearly working for Worcestershire," she said.

"Savers will welcome the new personal savings allowance, abolishing savings for 17 million people and the 'Help to Buy' ISA will encourage yet more people to save for their own house with a Government top-up of £50 for every £200 saved.

“I welcome the £600 million allocated to improving our digital infrastructure including investment in mobile phone networks to improve rural broadband connectivity and local churches will welcome the tripling of the roof fund.

"This Budget is another step on the road from austerity to prosperity with support for savers, lower taxes for people in work."