A NEW village hall in Worcestershire is to be lit up for the festive season but residents will not be able to use it until the new year.

Following reports in the Worcester News highlighting the plight of Throckmorton, where a new £175,000 hall has been built but the electricity was not connected, Energy Services turned up to the site on Saturday to put in a electricity pole.

They are due to return on Saturday to finish work on the pole and cabling, but the power will not be switched on by npower until Monday.

Members of Throckmorton Village Charity, which helped raise funds for the building, had been trying to get the power supply installed since August and were particularly frustrated when Energy Services' sister company Central Networks awarded the parish £2,500 to spend on Christmas lights.

They feared the hall, one of the main venues for the village's Christmas activities, would be left in the dark.

Charles Tucker, a charity member, said: "We have the lights but we have not hung them up yet. We may put them all around the parish hall this year. We have not been able to use the hall at all and we have missed our Christmas activities. It is unlikely we will have it completed before the new year.

"We have to furnish it, hang curtains and blinds and provide equipment for the kitchen.

"We had three bookings, including one on Christmas Day, but they had to be cancelled. It's a shame."

Mr Tucker said that if the electricity was connected on Monday, they were hoping to have an open day for the villagers on January 13 to let people see what has been done and what facilities are now available to the residents of Throckmorton.