A GIRL Guide group has reopened its base, nine months after floods devastated the building and destroyed their equipment.

The flooding hit the Dunstan Road hall in August while the 6th Headington Guides were closed for the summer, meaning the damage was not discovered for weeks.

The group lost equipment, including tents and uniforms, and had to repair walls and floors throughout the hall.

But on Wednesday night, the hall was officially reopened and families celebrated by cooking around an open fire and playing parachute games. Eight-year-old Katy Cowls, left, and Emilia Perkins, seven, are pictured with some specially-made cupcakes.

Group leader Kim Griffiths, 51, inset, said: “The water had come in sometime in August and had maybe been in there three or four weeks when we found it.

“The place was covered in mud and the smell was horrendous. The damage was unbelievable – it was absolutely heart-breaking.”

The rebuilding cost was covered by insurance, but the group has had to replace equipment itself, helped by grants from Headington Action group, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford Gang Show. But the Guides now need to raise a further £5,000 to replace drainage systems at the hall to make sure the flooding does not happen again.