A HALL that was put on the market by a town council will now be returned to a community hub.

Witney Town Council had planned to sell Langdale Hall, in Market Square, to cover the costs of refurbishing the town's Corn Exchange.

The council's failure to sell the hall, coupled with the acquisition of alternative funding for the Corn Exchange, led it to explore options for bringing the building back into community use.

Interest in running the hall had previously been expressed by several charities and groups and discussions with several of these were entered into.

The council decided that Inclusive Care and Education Ltd (The ICE centre), which had been operating from a building in Carterton, could run its base from the hall.

The ICE centre had been given notice on their other lease and were urgently looking for another hub.

Building work to improve the hall is now under way and expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Jill Bull, of The Ice Centre said: “The team is looking forward to bringing its services to Witney.

"We will be able to continue to provide much needed independent services for our current users who are very excited about the move and will now have the opportunity to expand and offer services to many more people.

"We thank Witney Town Council for their support and working with us for the good of West Oxfordshire”

The ICE team will move into the Langdale Hall shortly after the work has taken place.

For more see witney-tc.gov.uk