A CLEAR majority of villagers in Chillaton have voted to sell their crumbling village hall, closed earlier this year because of safety concerns.

Trustees of the hall mounted a consultation exercise last month to find out what people thought of a range of options suggested for the hall's future.

Neil Warrington, chairman of the trustees, said: 'It was a very positive exercise from our point of view — it gave us a very clear idea of what people wanted.

'We have just got to take everything on board now and get it right.'

A total of 180 questionnaires were sent out offering three options — to restore the hall, sell it and build a new one or sell it and establish a village fund.

The survey revealed 87 per cent of respondents were in favour of selling the hall.

Mr Warrington said: 'The majority of people want to see a hall still in the village, which is quite fascinating — where else do you go if you want to have a dance or play badminton or something in Chillaton?'

The trustees will meet the Community Council of Devon next month, who will guide the committee through the legal complexities of selling the hall.

'It's going to take some time obviously, because we have to go through the hoops of the Charity Commission which will be a long drawn out process,' said Mr Warrington.

The trustees will also be on the look out for a site on which to build the new village hall, and will have to apply for funding from a wide range of bodies.

'I guess it will take about two years if everything went right,' said Mr Warrington.

A special general meeting will be held in Chillaton in February, allowing all local people to vote on the formal proposal to sell the existing building.

The hall, built almost 100 years ago as the village reading room, is suffering from extensive dry rot. Until its closure it was used for a variety of social events and provided a base for Chillaton playgroup.