An English village raising funds to open a community centre has received help from an unlikely source - after the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates stepped in to save the disused building.
Godolphin Cross, a settlement of around 150 homes in Cornwall, was looking to buy a Methodist chapel which closed last April and tapped up Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for a donation.
Residents pointed out links between their village and the Godolphin stables, a global racehorse-breeding operation run by the emir.
The stables are named after the Godolphin Arabian, first bred in 1724, which takes the name of its best-known owner Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin.
Godolphin Cross Community Association chairman Richard McKie said Dubai's ruler had made a generous offer towards the fundraising attempt and described the story as a "fairy tale".
He told CornwallLive: "These kinds of things don't normally happen.
"It's a fairy tale really. It's not often a sheikh steps in to help a Cornish village."
He added an offer for the chapel in the village, 12 miles west of Falmouth, had been verbally accepted by the Methodist Church.
Mr McKie said: "We can't thank Sheikh Mohammed enough and we'd love to see him in this neck of the woods any time.
"He would be assured of a very warm welcome."
