VILLAGERS have raised £18,000 in under a year to fund the restoration of their village's Victorian reading rooms.

The rooms were once a haven for the menfolk of the Swinton village, Ryedale, who sat around a fire reading newspapers or played snooker, darts or billiards.

Reading rooms were once a feature of many villages but today Swinton's is one of the last to survive.

It was given to the village by farmer and landowner Colonel Behrens in the 1940s and dates back 120 years.

The rooms are currently used by a toddler group, playschool, parish council, youth club, four table tennis teams and a pensioners' group.

But villagers are now working to restore and refurbish the rooms with a scheme that is expected to cost about 23,000. It has been about 16 years since the last revamp.

So far Ryedale District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Awards for All, and Broughton and Swinton parish councils have given a total of 18,000 in grants to the project.

Diane Waudby, secretary of the Swinton Reading Rooms management committee, said: "It was an area other than the public house where people could go and is now the community hall for the village. It was built for the good of the village and was handed over to Swinton villagers by the landowner in the 1940s.

"It is currently called Swinton Reading Rooms but local councillors have suggested we call it Swinton Reading Rooms Community Hall.

"It's usable now but what we have been trying to do is put disabled access in and a disabled toilet."

Mrs Waudby said she hoped plenty of volunteers would come forward from the Swinton and Broughton villages, who will benefit most from the refurbishment.

Work on the outside of the building is set to start after Christmas while the interior will be left until the hall is not being used, in half term.

Some repointing work needs to be done and painting and decorating of the interior is also needed.

If you can help than call Mrs Waudby on 01653-697548.