TO say that the cloud of Barclays Bank closing its branch in Reeth has had its silver lining may be a little trite, but there can be no denying that the outcome has been better than anybody might have thought.

Two years ago the dale had a bank, a valuable facility certainly, but at the end of the day it was just a bank. As from last Friday, the dale has in its place a building which will be used for wide range of community uses - low-cost housing, rural resource centre, offices for the local authorities, police, business association and a base for a whole host of other local organisations. The back garden is to be turned into a public orchard and there are also plans to have youth club based there.

Provided all these plans come to fruition and all the varying interests can be happily reconciled, the building could provide far greater community benefit than its previous role as a bank.

Barclays deserves some credit for co-operating with the community and selling the building at a discount to the not-for-profit company set up to operate it. But the lion's share of the praise must go to the group which galvanised Reeth into action, making it clear that the opportunity to create something of lasting benefit from the disaster that was Barclays' closure decision in 2000 would not be lost.

The Hudson House project at Reeth is by no means mission accomplished but it is a good example of how a disused building like a closed bank can be purchased for the community. It is to be hoped that the people of Swaledale make good use of it.