Villagers at Highbrook, near Ardingly, have raised more than £130,000 to repair their 100-year-old village hall.

The residents decided something had to be done as it became more and more dilapidated and in 1998, they set about raising the money.

Now the hall is completed and is being used by villagers for everything from Yoga to wedding receptions and parties.

In 1875, a Mr and Mrs Kirby built, at their own expense, a schoolroom in Highbrook.

Mrs Kirby's sister, Miss Weguelin, was installed as the schoolmistress and the schoolroom operated until 1924 when it became a parish hall.

Molly Cooper, member of the Highbrook Village Hall Committee, said: "Decisions had to be made. The updating would cost a considerable amount of money - over £130,000 for everything that was needed."

The villagers, numbering just over 100, set about raising the money through grants, donations and fund-raising events, including village days, an auction of promises, Christmas fairs, quizzes and cookery demonstrations.

Mrs Cooper said: "As much as possible was done by the local residents.

"Now it is all finished the icing on the cake is the uncovering of wonderful scissor beams which had, for many years, been hidden by a false ceiling and the installation of a state-of-the-art lighting and heating system.

"It is now a village hall to be really proud of. One wonders what Miss Weguelin, that first schoolmistress, would make of it now."