YEARS of hard work and planning finally started to bear fruit on Monday when construction of Colwall's Millennium Room finally got under way.

A delay while the contract was thrashed out between the Millennium Room Trust and contractor Mike Mitchell meant the projected start date had to be postponed from December.

But pen was put to paper between Christmas and New Year, and work began on the new facility this week.

The new room, which will form part of the village's Humphrey Walwyn Memorial Library, will house IT facilities, local archives and possibly children's readings and teaching classes.

The project was born three years ago, following a survey which showed it would be the most popular way of commemorating the Millennium among Colwall residents.

The project is a joint enterprise between the Millennium Room Trust, set up in 1999 to organise it, Colwall Parish Council, which own the land it is to be built on, and Herefordshire Library Services.

The target date for completion is the end of May. It will cost an estimated £92,000, raised through grants and fundraising over the past three years.

Fundraising events so far have included a balloon race, a Christmas postal service and a mass photograph of villagers outside the church of St James the Great.

Such events will continue throughout 2002 as money is sought to equip the new room.

Nicky Carless, one of the project's trustees, said she was glad to see construction under way.

"It's been quite a long process and it's great to see it's finally coming along at last," she said.