A MAJOR refurbishment of a village hall at the hub of a local community is set to start after lottery money was awarded to finance the work.

Villagers in Crosthwaite were this week celebrating news of a £168,709 grant from the Community Fund, formerly known as the National Lottery Charities Board, which will cover the total cost of renovating the Argyle Memorial Hall.

Work will include replacing the flat roof over the hall extension with a pitched slate roof, the improvement of the toilets and the creation of disabled access.

A storage area will be added, new heating and lighting put in, as well as improvements to the main hall and furnishings.

Jim Bownass, village hall chairman, said the building which opened in 1931, was used every day of the week, and most evenings and weekends as well for arts classes, keep fit sessions, indoor bowling, and by groups including the Womens Institute and village playgroup.

Pupils at Crosthwaite CE Primary School also use the hall twice a week for PE lessons, and it is regularly hired out for private parties and events.

Mr Bownass said the renovation work give a new lease of life to the hall, which was "at the hub of the community."

He explained: "In the 1960s an extension was put in with a flat roof.

The roof has come to the end of its useful days so we decided instead of repairing it, which would only take us another 20 years on, we decided to do the job properly and replace it altogether."

After discussions with architect Tony Boothman, of Bowland Bridge, the committee decided to push ahead with the rest of the work that was needed on the hall, and applied for a lottery grant to cover the whole project.

Mr Bownass said they were delighted to receive the full grant, which means work can start in early summer, and will hopefully be finished by December.

Iftekhar Bokhari, grants officer with Community Fund, said targeting rural disadvantage was one of the priorities within the North West region, particularly following foot-and-mouth.

"When the organisation put an application in, the board felt it was well put together and met a clear need in the area," he told the Gazette.