A FIVE-YEAR project to build a community hall for people on the outskirts of Durham is nearing completion.

Durham City Council has given £63,000 to Belmont Parish Hall Association towards the £660,000 cost of the facility next to St Mary Magdalene Church, at Belmont.

Work on the building is under way, and the association is now £25,000 short of its target.

The area has not had a centre for community activities for more than 14 years, and the vicar, the Reverend Robert Innes, said there was a need for somewhere for groups to meet.

He said: "We are short of facilities on the east side of the motorway. We used to have the old school centre and the scout hut, which were lost in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"We have quite a thriving community in Belmont and want the infrastructure to support that."

The building, which is due to be completed in August, will have a large dividable hall, meeting rooms, a kitchen and offices.

It will be used by community groups, church groups and Scouts and Guides.

The Scouts and Guides gave £96,000 towards the project, and £195,000 came from the National Lottery. Parishioners have also been busy fundraising and there are plans to sell inscribed bricks to make the total.

Mr Innes said: "To raise so much money is a fantastic achievement. It has been an excellent piece of teamwork by everyone involved.

"The city council has done us proud by making a very generous grant."

Association secretary Christopher Percival said the hall would improve the quality of residents' lives.

The grant has come from the city council's Flourishing Communities Fund, which uses money from the sale of council land for regeneration projects.

Witton Gilbert Community Association is getting £99,000 to re-roof its centre, provide fencing and improve facil-ities.

And £25,000 has been donated to Coxhoe Community Partnership for a sensory garden next to Coxhoe Leisure Centre.