Harbury Village Hall near Leamington will be improved and extended in £200,000 refurbishment

The extension will house a permanent stage, new warm and welcoming male and female changing rooms, locker space, showers and toilets.

Work will be completed at the hall, South Parade, by the beginning of November.

The longest serving member of the Harbury Village Hall committee, Gill Gurden, whose husband Ralph was one of the founding local councillors involved in fundraising to build the hall in the 1960s, joined contractor John Warner and builders Bryan Wallington and John Davis to demolish the obsolete changing rooms.

The new changing rooms will enable all users to comply with safety regulations and the Child Protection Act.

There will be greater space for a wide range of activities on the new stage.

Chair of the village hall committee, Geoffrey Thorpe, said: “This work will open up the hall to more users of all ages, and will mean that we will be one of the best equipped and flexible venues in this part of Warwickshire.

“We cannot wait to see the work progress over the coming months.”

Since it opened in 1962, the hall has been at the centre of village life.

As well as for meetings of a wide range of groups and organisations, it also been used as a venue for film shows, plays, parish council meetings, Southam College Adult Education, the church craft fayre, annual beer festival, and private parties.