The woman heard the church needed a new home

The Bedworth branch of the Salvation Army opened its new worship centre in Bede Arcade on Monday.

The move, from a youth centre, was only made possible by a �150,000 donation from an anonymous benefactor.

Commanding officer, John Vale said he was sceptical when the woman first contacted him by telephone.

"We were trying to do something to move from Bedworth Youth Centre where we started ten years ago, our community work was growing and it got to the stage where we couldn't grow anymore, " he said.

"Out of the blue I had an anonymous phone call from a woman who said she wanted to buy us a new home.

"I was gobsmacked. She said she had no need for a house as she could live in rented accommodation."

Identity remains a mystery

He said they had looked at several buildings before finding their new home, on a main road close to a supermarket.

It has three rooms and will hold services of worship aswell as a community cafe, a shop and community offices.

"It is a tremendous amount of money, without this we couldn't have done it, I was so emotional when we received the cheque," Mr Vale said.

"As a result of this we have been able to apply to other organisations for funding for things like fitting out the kitchen and buying an IT suite."

He said despite making inquiries he had been unable to find anything more about the woman.