A VILLAGE hall is rolling back the years by reopening a reading room.

The resurrected reading room at Coxhoe Village Hall features a book exchange available to people living in the village.

Coxhoe lost its twice-weekly library provision, previously run from the hall, some time ago and more recently its mobile library service was cut too.

The reading room is the latest innovation at the village hall, which is enjoying a new lease of life having been taken over by a new committee a year ago.

Coxhoe Parish Council has supported the initiative by providing a grant for book shelves.

Hall treasurer Barbara Hepplewhite said: “Our request for book donations resulted in a fantastic response and we now have a wide variety of books, hopefully to suit all tastes.

“We wish to thank friends of the hall who have enthusiastically erected shelves, sorted and organised book donations and offered to supervise its use.”

There is a reference to a reading room in Coxhoe in the 1891 census and it is believed to have been the forerunner of the village hall.

The new reading room will be open on Fridays from 10am to noon. The hours could be extended if enough volunteers come forward.