Residents are to be asked for their views on a radical proposal to site a new community hall on the edge of their village.

The present Burton-in-Lonsdale village hall, built as a Sunday School in 1854, no longer meets requirements and the Village Hall Committee has been considering a range of possible options.

Now village hall users and representatives of 14 local organisations are to be asked for their views on the latest option at a meeting and exhibition next Saturday (September 28).

This will be followed by a village appraisal with the results presented to a public meeting in November, when a vote will be taken.

Village Hall Committee member Susan Gregory said the present hall, in the centre of the village, was no longer big enough and there was no room to expand.

"We need a new building that can be multi-use with meeting rooms, up-to-date facilities for disabled people, and car parking," she explained.

The new building would be near the recreation field on the south side of the village near an all-weather sports pitch.

Funding for the project, through the Community Fund and local councils, was also more likely to be successful if the building was multi-use, explained Mrs Gregory.

"The main aim of the meeting is to sound out local people who are using the hall and hear what they think about the proposal," she said.

The proposal was "radically different" to previous options because it involved a new site, but this had been done by other villages in a similar position, she said.