A COMMUNITY is being presented with its greatest challenge to date - raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to improve their village hall.

Ten years after villagers in Scorton, near Richmond, collected £80,000 for an extension to the War Memorial Institute, a new fundraising campaign is on the verge of being launched.

A final figure has not yet been put on the new extension, but institute committee chairman Ian Threlfall said it was expected to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Richmondshire District Council will consider the scheme at a meeting on Tuesday before detailed proposals are drawn up and officially unveiled to villagers.

A windfall, gained when a building society converted to a bank, helped the institute committee fund work by an architect on improvements to the hall.

One of the major proposals is a room dedicated for use by Scorton's teenagers.

Mr Threlfall said: "The community is very well looked after as far as pre-school is concerned and up to 11 or 12, and there are things going on for older people, but there is a big gap. There is very much a need for a youth centre so we're trying to create an opportunity for young people to be involved and have somewhere to go.

"They only need a focal point, a room they can use and after that they can look after themselves and decide what they want. They don't want interference, but we have got to give them a centre."

The extension will also include a second function room in addition to the hall's existing facilities, as well as a new kitchen and toilets. It will also provide dedicated space for the pre-school group, in addition to offices and a store room.

If the project is given planning permission, the committee will launch its fundraising campaign, which is expected to include an application for National Lottery funds.

Redrawn boundaries have also put Scorton in the EU's Objective Two area needing special assistance, meaning EU grants could also be available.

Mr Threlfall said: "It is going to take a lot of getting, but hopefully we will get there. At the end of the day I hope we will have a village hall that will have something for every age group.