A community centre in danger of collapsing has been made safe with a £3,800 council grant.

Preston Road Community Centre, Abingdon, was found to be structurally unsafe when Vale of White Horse District Council engineers carried out a routine inspection.

An order was put on the centre instructing its managers, who are all volunteers from the local community, to have the building made safe by this month.

The Preston Road Comm-unity Centre Association was worried about how to fund the emergency work needed to make the centre safe.

The council provided an emergency grant which covered all but £500 of the cash needed. The community provided the rest, and now timber frames and a wall at the centre have been bolstered, making the building safe. Gwen Godwin, the centre's vice-chairman, said: "It was not so dangerous that it would fall down immediately, but we needed to put in emergency bracing of the timbers and support for the roof as soon as possible."

Vale engineers said this must be completed soon or the centre would have had to be fenced off.

The problem arose because a method of construction, used in the 1970s when the centre was built, involved using thin timber frames. Engineers thought it was cost-effective, but the consequences are now becoming apparent in buildings all over the country. Mrs Godwin said: "Recently, engineers have learned how this sort of structure behaves in the longer term. It does not work too well. At our centre they found the timbers had twisted a bit and were tending to lean. If it had fallen, it would have gone like a pack of cards, with the roof collapsing inwards.

"Structural engineers are looking into what we should do in the longer term. We could replace the roof or put in more scaffolding."The centre caters for the local community with varied events from diet and fitness clubs to private celebrations.

Karen White, the Vale's chief leisure services officer, said: "Prompt action has ensured the premises can remain open in the busiest period of the year."

Story date: Thursday 23 December

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