RESIDENTS in Stanton St Quintin are rejoicing after their dilapidated parish hall has been transformed into a village hub thanks to the hard work of local people and businesses.

The parish hall committee began stripping the hall last October, after securing funding through the Hills Group's Landfill Communities Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Jack Day Trust and others to help with their vision which dates back to 2014.

"It was through an article in the Gazette & Herald, that the restoration project was made possible," Cara Voelcker said. "People just weren't interested in coming down if it wasn't a nice place to go but people love it now and we are getting some lovely comments."

The hall, which has now been brought into the 21st century, is beginning to attract more and more attention as groups from the WI to Pilates classes are starting to hire it.

Peter Boggis, who managed the renovations, said: "It has been a very interesting project and we have had a lot of help from people, which is nice. The hall is now unrecognisable and you wouldn't believe how much we have done.

"We started in October last year and the hall was back in limited use by Christmas and it was all singing and all dancing by March. We wanted to do this for the community and it has worked out well."

To coincide with the renovations, the committee has also launched a website. For more information visit www.ssqparishhall.co.uk