Bucharest  - About 5,000 Bucharest residents protested a planned high-rise building on Sunday, saying its proximity to an historic church could endanger both the building and local aesthetics.

With the exception of the Saint Joseph Cathedral, the church encroached upon by the planned building, Bucharest's Catholic churches kept their doors shut in protest as marchers delivered a petition to the Romanian government against the planned 19-storey building.

Plans for the office building, part of a proposed Cathedral Plaza, would put it mere metres away from the cathedral. Construction, already begun, was cleared to continue by a court two weeks ago after years of competing claims between the church, the builders and the city.

The neo-Romanesque, neo-Gothic church was completed in 1884.

Bucharest residents have long complained that construction has grown out of control in the city, threatening many historic landmarks. (dpa)