A HISTORIC community hall in a Ribble Valley village has been put up for sale to make way for a meeting place.

Tosside, on the Lancashire-Yorkshire border in Gisburn Forest, is to have a new community hall serving 60 sq miles of isolated countryside between Clitheroe, Bolton-by-Bowland, Settle and Slaidburn.

Residents of Tosside and the surrounding area have raised £440,000 to build the new facility, but hope someone will find a use for the old hall, which is made of concrete panels and metal roofing sheets. It will be sold off to make room for a new community building on the same site, opposite Dog and Partridge pub in the centre of the village.

Eddie Runswick, secretary of Tosside Community Link, a charitable group formed to manage the project, said: "The building is capable of being dismantled and rebuilt somewhere for commercial or farm use as a single entity or in smaller units.

"We have had one serious offer to dismantle and remove the building, but to comply with grant rules we need to see if there is any more interest before finalising arrangements."

Tosside Institute is the second village hall to occupy the site. A former wooden hall constructed in 1919 was a Skipton World War One army hut brought to the village by residents on horse and cart.

This was replaced in 1969 by the present hall built by residents from concrete panels used for post-war prefabricated housing.

The institute's historic dance floor, which still bears the mark of an old coke heating stove, is to be kept and reused in the new hall.

Mr Runswick added: "Both institutes have served the community well and have been famous for dances that have brought people to Tosside from miles around.

"The current building has a small amount of asbestos in it and a survey report is available to anyone interested to ensure its safe removal."

A social evening will mark the final event at the current Tosside Institute on Saturday, July 5.

Anyone interested in buying the building is asked to contact Mr Runswick on 01729 840650.