Villagers in Urchfont are a step nearer getting extension to the village hall to house a doctors' reception area after getting a £10,000 boost from the National Lottery.

Urchfont is just one of 70 projects across the south west to share in £2,447,628 of grants announced on Tuesday.

David Mottram, chairman of Urchfont Village Hall Committee, said: "We are delighted to get this cash."

He said the project to create a proper waiting room for the satellite doctor surgery at the hall would cost a total of about £25,000.

Other funding is coming from the parish council and from the NHS.

He said: "It will make a real difference to have a dedicated waiting room."

He said he hoped the building work would be completed this year.

Doctors from Market Lavington Surgery visit the village hall to hold surgeries several times a week.

Other Wiltshire causes to get funding include Colerne village hall and a river project in Calne.

Colerne will use its £10,000 to create a cinema room in the hall that can be used by all the community and allow the village to screen films any time during the day or evening.

The Bart Riverfly Partnership project in Calne has been awarded £9,880 which will be used to train volunteers to test for pollution in local rivers to monitor levels to help safeguard the environment.

A Big Lottery spokesman said: "The awards have been made through the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All and Reaching Communities programmes.

"Awards for All provides grants of between £300 and £10,000 to voluntary and community organisations and Reaching Communities awards larger grants of £10,000 and above for more long term projects.

"Local projects with ideas on how they could make a difference to their community can find out how to apply for funding from the Big Lottery Fund for projects from as little as £300 to £10,000 by joining one of our 30 minutes online webinars. They run every week and provide support and guidance on applying.

"The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40 per cent of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes. "

To find out more visit https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/englandwebinars