VILLAGERS are being invited to help solve a cash crisis that is threatening the future of a community hall.

It has been revealed that an extra £3,000 a year will have to be found to pay the running costs of the village hall at Gainford, near Darlington, after Durham County Council withdrew its support.

Over the next few months, a further £20,000 will also have to be raised to pay for a new central heating system and to improve access to the hall for disabled people.

In a bid to find a solution to the funding problem, all residents in the village are being asked to attend a meeting to give their views on the future of the facility.

The secretary of the hall committee, Bill Goyder, said yesterday: "We hope people will come up with ideas about how we can go about raising all this money, and that there will be a good discussion in an informal atmosphere.

"We feel this will be more useful than the committee announcing its own fundraising proposals and expecting everyone else in the village to get on with them."

The hall complex is one of the biggest in the area, with a main hall, supper room, kitchen, meeting rooms, snooker salon and theatre.

But since the heating boiler broke down, some radiators in the hall have burst causing flood damage, and this must be repaired at the same time as improvements are made to the hall for disabled access.

Mr Goyder said: "It is unfortunate that a lot of money is needed for these two projects, just as the county council has stopped its support for this hall and others. We will be applying for grants towards the cost of the two big schemes, but will have to raise a lot of the cash ourselves, so this special meeting will be really important."

A Durham County Council spokesman said support for village halls had stopped because of a change in government funding.

The revised funding system meant that cash was channelled through the Learning and Skills Council, and halls had to meet more stringent adult education criteria to qualify for a share.

The change was made 12 months ago, but the county council gave £150,000 to be shared between village halls last year as a one-off gesture to help cope with the loss.

The meeting will be held in the village hall on Thursday, February 19, at 7pm.