A COMPUTER whizz-kid has catapulted his local church onto the information super highway after designing a state-of-the-art website to help keep parishioners up to date.

A COMPUTER whizz-kid has catapulted his local church onto the information super highway after designing a state-of-the-art website to help keep parishioners up to date.

James Abbott, 15, of Great Barton, near Bury St Edmunds, designed the site, relating to Holy Innocents Church, in the village, as part of a GNVQ course in information technology.

James' father, Rev Stephen Abbott, runs the church, and yesterday said he was very proud of what his son had achieved.

"I think it is going to be a very important resource for the church, and it is particularly nice to encourage young people to so something really valuable," he said.

"This has been a very big project, and I am both pleased and proud of James. This is certainly not something I could have tackled myself."

The site, which goes on line on Sunday, includes listings of services and events taking place at Holy Innocents, information on groups for young people and a brief history of the church.

"Holy Innocents attracts large numbers of young people for such a small village church, and it is time Great Barton church made use of this modern means of communication," said James, who hopes to work in the computer industry when he completes his studies at County Upper School, in Bury St Edmunds. "I wanted to do something fairly special for my final project, so chose this.

"I have been working on the site for a couple of months, and have tried to make sure the site covers a wide variety of topics, giving perhaps more information than other websites would.

"I'm looking forward to the site going on line, and hope to get a good grade for my course."

James' website can be found at http://holyinnocents.cjb.net