A RUN-DOWN garage is to be turned into office space to enable a community centre to boost its income.

The committee running Bedale Hall has won support from regional development agency Yorkshire Forward to turn the annexe building, described as an eyesore, into new offices.

The ground floor of the garage houses public toilets and the Bedale Volunteer community minibus, and is used for storing street cleaning equipment.

However, the upper floor is empty.

Under the project, the ground floor would continue to be used for toilets and storage, but the upstairs would be given a facelift and used to help meet the shortage of office space in Bedale.

Since a local management committee took over the hall from Hambleton District Council on a 999-year lease in 1988, the building has operated as a community centre containing offices, meeting rooms, a public library, a museum and a tourist information centre.

The management committee has maintained a rolling programme of external and internal refurbishment at the listed building, including a recently completed £12,000 redecoration of the elaborate Georgian ballroom.

However, the garage is still classed as an "eyesore".

Management committee chairman John Noone said the garage was built of concrete with an asbestos roof just after the war and the upper floor was wasted space.

He said: "We have a beautiful hall now with this eyesore stuck on the end of it, although it looks better since it was painted.

"The garage will be redeveloped more in keeping with the rest of the hall and the first benefit will be a nice visual feature.

"We have been keeping money in reserve for some time for this project and any surplus we have will go towards it.

"People are always asking us whether we have any more lets and there is a shortage of quality office space in Bedale.

"We will also be enhancing the ground floor area.

"In time, this project will help us to get back the money we are pumping into the hall."

The redevelopment plans are estimated to cost £160,000, of which, 50 per cent will come from Yorkshire Forward.

The rest will be met from the management committee's own funds.

However, the committee hopes to obtain a grant towards the cost of an elevator going up to the offices.

If planning permission is obtained, work is likely to start next year.