A FOUR-YEAR project to build a new community hall will come to an end today when the building is officially opened.

The hall has been built as an extension to Carthorpe Methodist Church in Carthorpe, near Bedale. It has modern toilets, a kitchen and easy access for the disabled.

The church has also been given a makeover, with central heating and damp proofing being installed.

Building work started in April after four years of planning and fundraising.

The hall was partly funded by the sale of the former Sunday school building nearby.

The Reverend Fran Lane said: "We owned that building but it was expensive to keep up. It needed a lot of renovation and had no adequate toilets, kitchen or heating."

After a village meeting it was decided to go for a new building rather than try and renovate the old.

"We wanted to improve the facilities for the local community and to do some work on the church," said Rev Lane.

"The hall will be hired out at reasonable rates for such community uses as parties and family occasions."

Grants towards the new hall came from Yorventure, Hambleton District Council, the county council, Awards for All, the Methodist property division and the Jack Brunton Trust.

The whole project cost £120,000. Church treasurer and steward Dorothy Gatenby said: "The new hall will be welcomed by a lot of people, both locally and from villages around us."

It will be opened at 3pm today by the oldest church member, Evelyn Barker, and the youngest, Tom Sutton, from the Sunday school.

The event will also involve pupils from Burneston CE Primary School, the Sunday school and the Tuesday get-together group at the church.