A community centre under threat of closure will soon start major repairs helped by a £10,000 grant from the parent company of the Keighley News.

A badly leaking roof and rotten doors and windows meant Oxenhope Community Centre desperately needed funds for a full renovation.

And this time last year, a cheque for £10,000 was handed over on behalf of the Gannett Foundation, which is run by the newspaper’s parent company.

And a year-long fundraising campaign has collected a total of £67,000 needed to pay for a new roof, doors and other works, according to Oxenhope Community Association chairman, Tony Maw.

He said: “It’s a really well used resource, and it’s so important to keep it open – that £10,000 was really needed.

“Oxenhope has about 2,000 residents and all sorts of groups use the centre.

“We have pre-school groups, yoga, dance and fitness, a youth club and the Oxenhope Singers rehearse here. It’s a really good mix.”

Mr Maw added: “The centre was built in the 1980s and has a main hall and meeting room, but the roof has leaked very badly and caused extensive water damage to the ceiling in different places. At some points, we’ve had to actually pull the ceiling down.

“We are going to start work in the spring and get a brand new roof plus thermal doors and windows to make the building much better insulated, which will save money.

“The wooden floor needs re-sanding, and we are going to upgrade the disabled toilet.”

Mr Maw said the aim was to get all the jobs done by the autumn.

“Then we can start thinking about phase two, which could include solar panels for the roof and maybe an extension to create more storage space. We have so much going on at the centre it’s hard to find anywhere to keep all the stuff,” he added.